Princess of Light
by Impaled Iris
Summary: Lazy, calm, inactive; she was nothing special really. That is, until she discovered her light. But the question is, can light coexist with darkness? Between secrets, conflicts, and battling darkness itself, how can the sole keyblader focus on his mission?
1. Shiloh

**Chibi-Requiem**: Well hello there ladies and gentlemen. It seems that you've stumbled upon my Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. Well, I guess I hope you like the opening chapter, the story does pick up eventually, if in your opinion its slow, pretty much just like in the beginning of the game. Umm…so yeah that's basically it, um just enjoy the fanfic and such, and you'll hear more from me in the end. Hopefully, this story will be as appealing as a freshly baked taco to you, my fair readers. (_nods solemly for no reason_) Or a piece of chocolate…(_shifty eyes_) Whatever suits you.

_**Disclaimer**__**: I don't own anything but my character**__**. Because apparently its not my true calling to own KH and become rich, right?**_

**Chapter 1**- **Shiloh**

As she ran, the wind blew softly upon her face, causing her to inhale the fresh, salty aroma of the ocean before her. Running across the sand at full speed, obviously eager to reach her destination, she tried hardest not to get an abundant amount of thick, gritty sand in her shoes, while running as fast as her legs would allow her to go.

Hoisting her petite, trivial body on top of the small shack near the reservoir and secret place with her hands, she sighed from overwhelming exhaustion and stepped onto the higher level of her home; Destiny Islands.

Her name was Shiloh, and apparently she was running somewhere eagerly, to do something crucial and important. Well, at least to her it was. Being 14, similar to three of her friends on the island, she wasn't exactly the star athlete of the island, and tended to get tired quickly, but that was normal right?

Taking a few minutes to admire the giant egg that now sat perched on top of the multi-colored tree beside her, she stopped to attempt to knock the little bit of sand that had now found its place in her short, black boots.

She also didn't exactly have an immense flirtatious side, but it revealed itself when it wanted too. She didn't usually let tough situations, or problems get to her, and she always dealt with things in a defensive way. Like any other girl, she also had a sensitive side, which was rarely exposed in public anyway, and was kept confidentially to herself. Last but not least, she was indeed lazy, laid-back, and idle at times. Usually though, when something interesting or arousing came about, she was always the one wanting to do it first.

Alluring things didn't usually happen on the island, but it had its fill of things to do. Shiloh had discovered that when she was four, and had arrived on the island unannounced. She definitely proved to be strange to the kids around the island, having alarmingly bright pink hair, mixed in with a dash of magenta, It almost equivalently went along with her obscure eyes; a light gold with swirling brown and gray in them, decorated with lime-colored specks. The easy way to say her eye color though, would be to just call them hazel. She didn't usually pay too much attention to hair, accessories, and appearance, but her hair style was usually just parting the center, causing her bangs to fall just beneath her chin.

She adjusted her red bikini, evenly matched with a blue halter bikini top. Content that all traces of sand had been exterminated from her footwear, she ran across the stable wooden bridge that connected the higher levels of the island to each other. To this day, it amazed her that not a single person had never unknowingly put too much weight on the bridge, making it collapse instantly.

To Shiloh, that would be exciting. Nevertheless, she continued across the bridge, jogging lightly, and finally reached the other part of the plateau-decorated area of the island. Her eyes fell on the most obscure palm tree there, even though most of the trees were already odd, consisting of purple and green colors.

It was bent over, providing easy access to the start-shaped fruit of the island. Its succulent and sweet taste was enough to leave a young child clamoring for more, although there was a certain legend to it. Shiloh didn't bother to believe in this legend, besides, it was a _legend_, and there were no proven facts about them.

Eyeing the start fruit hungrily, she made a note to snatch one of the little morsels up when it was time depart from the island, and looked to the form that sat on top of the tree. She wasn't surprised to see a young girl about her age there, happily laughing as her short crimson hair swayed in the breeze. She remained just as unfazed as her eyes trailed off to the scene that was presently taking place in front of her.

It was simply a wooden sword fight. Of course, the fight being performed by two teenage boys, it consisted mostly of wild blows and cheap shots at the time. At least to Shiloh that's what it looked like, even though at times she would take the time to take part herself. Al though, she wasn't really that great at fighting with it, so it just remained in the category of 'engagements of boredom'.

She casually strolled up the back of the tree, leaning an arm on it lazily; her eyes fixed on the engagement between the two boys. One had almost metallic looking silver hair that dipped low just beneath his neck. Aquamarine eyes rested beneath his evenly cut bangs on his forehead, which was now wrinkled in thought as he paused to assume his opponent's next move. Riku was his name.

The other boy was almost the exact opposite. Spiky brown hair that made him look like he'd been electrocuted about 6 times, and yet gave off a bubbly and optimistic vibe. People also had a tendency to get lost in his large, sky blue eyes, which brightened every time at the sound of a challenge, and sparkled when he spoke of something arousing. This boy was Sora. Last but not least, the young girl sitting on the tree, cackling happily at the two boys scene, had eyes almost the same as Sora, but not quite as unique. Her name was Kairi. Shiloh decided to rest her chin in the palm of her hand, still exhaling lightly from her jog over here, and become a spectator in yet another one of the boys' wooden sword fights.

Sora backed up slightly, to try to put some distance between himself and Riku. His sword offensively poised upward, he gripped the sword tightly, searching for an opening to attack. Riku looked simply content, standing there, not moving an inch and casting one of his contagious smirks at Sora. That was Riku for you, always confident. He looked as if he was about to hit Sora with an overly confident punch line, but didn't have much time as Sora lunged forward to strike him.

He jumped, high above Sora, landing behind him. Sora twisted his body around, slashing the air behind him as Riku dodged and moved left swiftly, kicking up the sand in the process. Sora, grabbing his mouth as to not breathe in the rising sand, pressed the back of his hand against his nose, lowering his sword for a moment. Here was his blunder; he let his guard down. To Sora, it seemed as if Riku had appeared out of thin air, striking Sora powerfully in his chest and instantly knocking him down. Sora grimaced as the sand traveled through his hair as he hit the floor, raising yet another cloud of sand. He could hear Riku's low chuckle over the pounding in his head.

"I told you you weren't any match for me Sora," teased Riku, tossing his sword a little ways into the air triumphantly, and catching it.

"Poor Sora," said Kairi, grinning at the sight of Riku pestering him with his victory.

"Happens every time," Shilod added, sighing afterward.

Sora shot Riku an annoyed glare, and sighed turning his head to the side a little to try and stop the throbbing. Shiloh let out a small chuckle, causing Riku and Sora to turn to where she stood, leaning on the paopu tree.

"Aww, Riku you really tired him out," she said, a hint of sympathy in her voice, and walked over to where Sora lay. He offered a bit of a sad smile at her from the ground as she shook her head extending her hand to him.

"Need a hand?"

"Thanks Shiloh," he said, taking her hand and allowing himself to be hoisted up. Riku, arms crossed against his chest, shook his head at Shiloh. She turned to face him, noticing his whole new attitude, and raised an eyebrow.

"C'mon Shiloh, you know the loser can't get the girl," he said, attempting to sound elderly wise. Shiloh rolled her eyes in response, followed by a small smirk.

"Oh please, don't be jealous Riku," she replied, twirling a strand of Sora's spiky brown hair around her finger teasingly.

Riku had always seemed to have it out for her ever since she met him. Although, he did have the tendency to flirt openly with Kairi and she, she simply kept answering him with her usual sarcastic puns, just to keep him at ease.

Sora, flexing his arms and hands briefly to try and immerse his back and head pain with a good stretch, grinned immensely at Kairi, wondering if she'd enjoyed the show as well. Riku tossed his sword beside one of the palm tree trunks, and began a swift pace to the tree where Kairi sat, continuing on. She turned and playfully rolled her eyes at Riku's attempt to reveal his jealousy, and slowly backed up so that she had her back against the tree trunk.

In a sort of running leap, Sora hoisted himself onto the tree as well, relaxing his head at the middle of the curve pf it, and closing his eyes for a split second. Shiloh, still staring at Sora, for he had almost knocked her down with his energetic leap, cast a content look towards him, then averted her eyes to the paopu that hung a few inches away from his head. Stretching out her hand and reaching upward, she quickly grabbed a hold of one of the star- shaped fruits. Running her slender fingers over the smooth surface of the golden fruit, she gave it a small tug, than a harder yank, and pried the fruit from its place on the tree.

The others watched her with a sudden interest, as if they'd never seen someone actually pluck one before. She placed it in her other hand, staring at it contently for a good minute. Riku looked away and snorted. "You can't eat that,"

"You wanna bet?" she replied, slowly lifting it up to her lips.

Riku grabbed her wrist, firmly, but gently, and spoke as if he were a security guard. "You have to abide by the legend,"

"Screw the legend, I'm hungry," she whined, giving one last look of disapproval at Riku, then dropping her hand to the side, the paopu still in it.

"C'mon Shiloh, its island tradition," protested Riku, withdrawing his hand from her wrist.

"Who says?"

"I do,"

"Well nobody's ever tried it before, so how do we even know whether its true or not?" Kairi cut in calmly, thrusting her point out to try and squelch their babbling.

Riku paused for a moment, placing his thumb on his chin in thought, while Shiloh smirked, pretty sure that the legend wasn't even true at all. The Paopu legend, as they called it, was simply an unproved legend that stated if a person shared the paopu fruit with another person, they would be bonded together for life. Shiloh rolled her eyes.

"How can someone be bonded to another with a _fruit_?" Shiloh questioned, emphasizing the word fruit greatly.

Riku sighed, defeated, and shrugged, dropping the subject in his mind. Sora suddenly broke the conversation at last with a random question, as usual.

"So, Shiloh, you got all that wood ready for us tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Shiloh answered tiredly. "That's why I was gone pretty much all day. I was helping chop it up,"

Shiloh, her guardian having an axe at hand, had helped chop about two dozen pieces of wood, to build for the raft. The raft the four young teens planned on using to drift into the sea. In search of the other worlds…

She nervously rubbed a swollen spot on her arm, its muscle pulled from chopping wood all day, and wondered what exactly they would find when they ventured off the island at last.

"Thanks a lot Shi," said Riku, nuzzling her hair with the palm of his hand. Shiloh scowled at Riku's new attempt to annoy her, and slightly nodded.

"Well," Sora started, climbing off of the tree, suddenly looking drained of all energy. "I think I'll call it a day,"

"Me too, agreed Kairi, slowly sliding off the trunk of the tree, her lavender skirt trailing behind her.

Riku averted his gaze toward Shiloh, who'd only given them a short wave and turned her attention back to the horizon that loomed in front of her.

"You coming?" Riku asked.

"I think I'll stay a little while longer," she answered softly.

She'd been away cutting lumber all day, and it felt kind of good to breathe in the salty air near the ocean again. She was also too mesmerized in the breathtaking sunset before her, the swirling colors of orange and yellow colliding in unison, like a paint artist's masterpiece.

"All right," replied Riku, silently slipping away. "See you,"

Shiloh nodded slowly, sighing afterward knowing she was alone. She closed her eyes, feeling the breeze gently brush her cheeks and drive away the heat that resided in them. Her relaxed state made her think back. Back to when she had lived before she had came to the island.

She'd always remembered certain things before, but it seemed like the memories just came and went, which could prove to be a bit frustrating at times. But now she was grasping something, taking hold of a memory; remembering. It came in the form of a song, a small melody that played in her head.

It urged her lips to join along in the chorus, and she slowly began to mouth the words, then sing them slowly. Oddly, it was in a different language, probably from her other world, she thought. It was so soothing though, she didn't care whether she knew what it meant or not.

She continued on for about a half hour or so, until she felt her throat go dry, and was forced to stop. Clearing her throat loudly, she opened her eyes, blinking absentmindedly. How long had she even stayed here, singing to herself anyway? She was just about to turn around, to take her leave, when she heard a mocking voice from behind her. "Oooh nice singing, er, humming, Shi. Encore,"

She spun around to see Riku, his eyes flickered with playfulness, grinning straight at her. Her voice immediately caught in her throat as she started to reply, wondering how much of it he had actually heard.

"Y-you heard?" she croaked, her voice suddenly protesting and struggling to emerge from her throat.

"Yup," he replied with a jolly tone of voice. "Was it from your world?"

"What do you think? Humph. And hey, what gave you the idea of staying behind to spy on me?" she shot back, smirking, and turned around to face the tranquility of the horizon once more. Riku walked over to her, his expression looking quite carefree and happy, staring ahead of them, as well.

"No need to be snippy," he replied, completely disregarding the second question in her previous statement. Shiloh sighed, turning a little to look at him.

"Aww, I'm sorry Riku," she said, tugging a strand of his silver hair in her fingers, and the fake innocence pouring from the small statement.

He snorted a little with newfound amusement, turning his head to the side so that she couldn't pull on it anymore. After a couple of minutes of random silence, he turned to look at her. "So, you excited?"

"Yeah I guess," she said, shrugging.

The thought of leaving the island seemed so exciting and so just at the start, but now it just gave her an eerie feeling that left her feeling like there where spiders scurrying up her back. It was worry. There was no telling what could happen when they went on the trip, and doubt that they would even find one world, much less hers and Kairi's.

"It's okay. If you're scared both Sora and I are here for you," he said in a soothing tone of voice.

"Thanks, but I'm not really scared. I'm just…" she trailed off, looking to the side of her in thought, searching for a word she could say.

"It's the dreams isn't it?" he asked, his voice suddenly sounding wise for once. Shiloh's eyes widened a bit at the mention of them and nodded slowly. These dreams he was referring to were the frequent catastrophic dreams Shiloh had that seemed more like warnings than dreams. Some were even occasionally flashbacks.

She'd tried to learn to deal with them, but they freaked her out. The thing that shocked her the most though, was that it seemed so real, and that realization was what brought her waking up in a cold sweat while she dreamt every other night. The very thought of the dreams made her shudder, and place her hands on her arms in fright.

"I'm sorry Shiloh, I didn't meant to upset you," Riku said, suddenly appearing in front of her. Shiloh tried to cover it up, shrugging like it was nothing.

"Oh, its okay, its nothing really,"

"No its _something_," Riku corrected.

Shiloh sighed, staring at him blankly. "All right fine,"

She crossed her arms in a little pouty motion, feeling a little embarrassed, like a child that had just been scolded by their mother.

"Exactly," said Riku, with confidence in his voice. When he saw Shiloh's frown out of the corner of his eye, he averted his gaze to behind him, to the horizon one more time.

"Please smile Shiloh, a girl's smile is her prettiest feature y'know," he said.

Shiloh raised a brow at his random little pun, but it was enough to cause her to start giggling.

Suddenly, out nowhere, Sora popped out of the bushes in some form of a bunny leap, startling both of them. They quickly regained their composure, however, realizing that it was only Sora. Also at the fact that afterwards, he'd almost tripped and fell flat on his face due to his jump being too high.

"Hey Riku, we on for a fight tomorrow?" he asked randomly, and with a little amusement in his voice upon startling them.

Riku opened his mouth to reply, but closed it shut when Kairi made her appearance on the bridge.

"Sora! I've been waiting for you down here! I thought I told you to leave those two alone!" she shouted, almost acting like an army commander barking orders to their lower squadron. Sora blinked, rubbing his head in a confused manner, as he saw Kairi walking swiftly towards him. Kairi seized the collar of his shirt gently, and quickly turned her head to flash Riku and Shiloh a smile.

"Sorry guys, gotta keep a leash on this kid,"

Sora opened his mouth in protest, but Kairi began to drag him away as if he were her lost puppy. Riku and Shiloh were now immobile from laughing too hard, their hands at their sides, and their laughter expanding with every next funny move.

"That's okay," said Shiloh, wiping a tear from her eye, partially giggling. "We were going to go too, right Riku?"

Riku replied with a smile, his aquamarine eyes reflecting off the sunset from behind them, and playfully tapped her shoulder. "You're it,"

With that, he sprinted off running, with Shiloh swiftly gaining speed and bounding after him.

**Chibi- Requiem**: Well, wasn't that nice? Please leave reviews. Good, bad, random, stupid, I don't care. I shall read them and smother you with glomps, tight hugs, and other painful ways to show affection (_evil snicker_) Also, readers beware. In my next chapter's, my authoress notes will become pretty random. There will be my sane Authoress notes, and then, my insane ones. Strange I know, but that's just how I roll…Yes. Well, see you in the next chapter. (_tiny wave_)

Personal questions**… **? Comments**…** ? **Feel free to message me.**


	2. Preparations and Promises

Chibi: (_excited_) Hey there! I just wanna thank all three of my first reviewers, Kawaii Tokyo Angel, xMegumix, and kingdomheartster! (_huggies reviewers_)

Shiloh: Hi there! This is the first random authoress note in this fic!

Riku: And I'm in it! Hi!

Shiloh: (_smirks_) Oh, hi Riku

Riku: (_points accusing finger_) Are you mocking me?

Sora: (_pops out of nowhere_) Hi!

Chibi: (_throws a burnt waffle at him_) Who wants burnt waffles?

Fan(s): Everybody run! She's got deadly burnt waffles!

(_Theres pure chaos as everybody screams and runs_)

Chibi: Well thank you for your unflagging support my fans (_sighs_) I don't cook that bad (_sobs_) Wait...how can you burn a waffle?

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or ANYTHING just Shiloh, GOT IT MEMORIZED?_

_--_

**Chapter 2- Preparations and Promises**

As Shiloh walked up onto the warm beach the next morning, greeted by the blazing sun and the smell of the ocean staining the air with a salty scent, she longed for one thing. Sleep.

She sleepily rubbed the back of her head, temporarily frizzing her hair up. Her eyes trailed to the warm sand below her, in which she could feel through her boots as she moved across the beach rather sluggily.

Stupid Riku, making her chase him practically half around the island last night. Nevertheless, she enjoyed it, as a matter of fact she enjoyed every time her friends and she goofed off. It was times like those that would make her miss Destiny Islands so much, when they departed.

As Shiloh spotted the two figures on the beach, figuring it was Kairi and Sora, she sighed, knowing today wouldn't exactly be a day of great rest and relaxation. More like preparation.

Shiloh tried to keep a positive, tedious, ready-to-work attitude, but it pretty much failed badly when she approached Kairi and Sora.

Sora was presently sprawled out onto the warm sand, his hands behind his head, looking up at Kairi, who was focused on a small note she was holding. Sora's crystal blue eyes glittered up at her as he blinked repeatedly to wake himself up.

"Hey guys," she greeted them, with a bit of forced enthusiasum.

"Hey," said Kairi, seeming entirely focused on the note in her hands. Her eyes scanned the numerous sentences that Shiloh could see through the back as she placed a hand on her chin in thought. Shiloh made a bit of a frustrated sound at the sight of it.

It was probably a list for the trip, which meant more work for all of them.

Sora lay stretched out in the sand right below her, his hands behind his head buried in his hair, resting in the sand.

"Hey Shiloh," he said, letting out a loud yawn afterwards.

The Destiny Island winds brushed his brunette hair over his mezmorizing sky blue eyes as he closed them for a brief second to get a nap in. Upon seeing Sora being lazy again, Shiloh grinned mischieviously and nudged him in his side gently with her boot.

"Hey Sora, no being a bum today," she said, her boot poking his side slowly.

Sora grunted lazily in response, and brought a hand from behind his head to ward off Shiloh's boot. "Just five more minutes,"

Shiloh smirked and crossed her arms, trying hard to ignore_ her _urge to take a nap on this fine day.

Kairi finally averted her eyes from the note to her friends in front of her, and spoke briskly while beginning to walk away.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go update this list. Do something productive while I'm gone?"

As Kairi walked away, Shiloh sighed tiredly and gazed up into the sky for comfort. She had a feeling that there'd be alot of work to be done today, such as gathering food, and constructing the raft.

However, it was probably for the best since they wouldn't get very far with an unfinished raft and not much food. But still, provisions were annoying.

"Hey Shiloh," beckoned Sora's voice.

"Hm?"

"Wanna sleep?" he asked, looking up at her from the ground.

Shiloh snorted, looking down upon him.

"Sora, we're both supposed to be doing something productive, hence Kairi's words,"

Sora grinned, his eyes opening immediately. "Oh c'mon, when has that ever stopped us?"

He cringed at the light laughter that briefly erupted from Shiloh, but nevertheless continued on.

"C'mon, you're tired aren't you?"

Shiloh finished cackling for a minute, and slowly lowered herself down onto the sand."Of course I am, your making me more exhausted by just looking at you," she replied. The soft, warm grains greeted her knees pleasantly, the softness making her even sleepier. The sand was always so soft, like a blanket. That was one of the many things she'd miss once they'd left the island. She welcomed the warmth of the sand thankfully, allowing a yawn to escape her throat.

"See?"

"Hush," she instructed playfully, smiling at him.

She fully relaxed her arms, bending them backward a little to hold herself up right and trying not to get sand in her hair. Sighing and closing her eyes, she let the gentle breeze brush her bright pink hair over her cheeks back and forth. She didn't plan to sleep the day away; just a nice, short nap would sefice.

She smiled to herself quaintly and slowly shifted into a daydream. She wondered what they would find once they set sail. That is, if they even found any worlds. If not, the whole journey just would've been sadly pointless. It seemed to be bothering her more than usual, more than the dreams of course though.

She knew that Kairi and she's arrival had triggered the boys' want to go in search of other worlds. But it was almost as if now, she was almost afraid to leave. _Talk about paranoid_...she thought, as she disregarded the fact that before her prime motive was to not get sand in her hair by lying back onto the sand. She turned her head to the side sleepily and placed her cheek in the sand.

She'd liked the island though, when she first came, and never even once thought of leaving. But I guess now that they were older, they felt the need for alot more adventure and exposure. Which brought up the question, would they even be happy when they arrived in this newfound world?

She wondered if everyone else even thought about this kind of thing, then slowly began to drop the subject from her mind. She was getting sleepier, and actually thought she was getting a few minutes of rest from all this pondering...

Suddenly, a shrill yell erupted from the area next to her, where Sora was lying. She abruptly sat up, rubbing the sand off the side of her cheek and opening her eyes.

"I knew I'd find you two snoozing down here," Kairi mused, hovered over Sora and she.

While Sora turned over on his side, facing Kairi and complaining slightly that Kairi had startled him so, Shiloh sleepily rubbed her eyes, a bit sad that her nap had ended. Besides, it was only about a five minute nap but replenishing nevertheless.

"Wha? What happened?" she asked rather drowsily.

"You two were sleeping thats what," said Kairi, grinning at the two of them.

Shiloh blinked and rubbed her eyes again, blushing with embarrassment.

"No no! This huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't...ow!" Sora babbled, shortly receiving a gentle knock on the head from Kairi.

"Are you still dreaming?" she asked playfully.

Shiloh raised an eyebrow at Sora's words. What in the world was Sora dreaming about nowadays?

"But it wasn't a dream!...Or was it?...I dunno," Sora questioned, turning to stare out into the crystal clear ocean. "What was that place?...So bizarre..."

"Yeah sure," Kairi said, walking around him and towards the edge of the ocean. She stood there for a second, her hair blowing back and forth as the tide welcomed the front of her shoes with its salty water.

Sora adjusted his position to kneeling on his knees, while staring out at the ocean for a brief second, then turned to Kairi and Shiloh once more. "Say Kairi, Shiloh, what were your hometowns like? Y'know, the place where you grew up? " he asked, for about the 50th time this week.

"I already told you, I don't remember," Kairi said, rather cheerfully with a slight giggle.

"Ditto," added Shiloh, sitting up and yawning tiredly.

"Nothing at all?" he questioned, curiously.

"Nothing," they both replied in unison.

"Do you guys ever wanna go back?"

"Meh, not really. My other world would've been boring without you guys anyway," Shiloh replied, winking playfully to her friends.

Sora smiled in response, looking over to Kairi afterwards. "What about you Kairi?"

"Hmm…" Kairi thought, staring out into the sparkling ocean with a thoughtful expression. "Well, I'm happy here,"

Shiloh smiled and nodded, tracing her finger through a particular patch of gritty sand next to her, while she listened to her words.

"But y'know, I wouldn't mind going to see it," said Kairi, a bit dreamily.

"I'd like to see it too," said Sora, his eyes sparkling with adventure. "Along with any other worlds out there, I wanna see them all!"

Sora's tone of voice alone showed how ambitious he was to go on this trip. Shiloh chuckled slightly at Sora's attitude, she found it so cute that Sora was so eager for everything.

She slowly stood up, hoisting herself from the warm bed of sand that had caused her little doze. Remembering that she'd forgotten to wipe the sand from her hair, she ran her fingers through the back of it vigoriously, hoping not too many of the sands grains had delved into her frost pink hair.

Kairi turned to face her two friends, her crimson hair swaying as she smiled cheerfully.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

The minute Shiloh looked up from extracting the sand from her hair, a signature voice erupted from behind them.

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" the voice erupted, causing them all to turn to look behind them.

Riku stood a little ways away from them, an oversized wooden log slung over his shoulder. His bold, aquamarine eyes showed clear signs of slight fatigue. Shiloh smiled to herself, she could tell Riku had been working, whilst the three of them, as usual, were busy goofing off.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft?" he questioned.

Beads of sweat were planted a little above his left eyebrow, making him brush them away with the back of his hand and gaze expectantly upon them as he walked towards them. As he began to pass Sora, he tossed the log that rested on top of his shoulder upon him, making an unprepared Sora raised his arms and attempt to catch it while falling backwards.

He struggled to catch the wide log, giving a little yell, simply because he wasn't prepared for Riku's log falling on him.

After dropping his log on Sora, he made his way over to Kairi, his silver hair bobbing behind him as Kairi giggled upon his actions.

"And you're just as lazy as he is!" said Riku, speaking to Kairi.

Kairi giggled even more, taking a piece of hair between her fingers. "So you noticed,"

Riku then turned to Shiloh, who was presently enjoying this amusing scene quietly near them. A valiant-looking smile crossed his face as he continued on with his scolding.

"And you just beat Sora for bum of the month,"

Shiloh shrugged lightly, lifting up her hands innocently.

"I need my rest. If I don't rest, I can't work,"

Shaking his head, Riku exhaled deeply and slowly lowered himself onto the sand beside Shiloh.

Another giggle escaped from Kairi as she smiled and spoke cheerfully.

"Okay, we'll all work on the raft together! I'll race you,"

"Huh!?" Sora asked, turning to face Kairi with a confused expression.

"What?" questioned Riku, as if he couldn't believe he was actually being challenged by someone.

Shiloh merely groaned in response. She'd actually got some rest before she'd be forced to work, and now she'd have to be running all around the place thanks to Kairi.

Kairi giggled and raised her arms, her bracelets dangling slightly from her arms.

"Ready? GO!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice.

Sora, Riku, and Shiloh all shot each other innocent looks as they waited for a moment for anyone of them to move. Suddenly, the teens shot up from the ground and sprinted forward in a race.

Kairi immediately followed behind them, cackling while she ran at a rather slow pace. Riku ran confidently, looking over at Sora to tease him, while dodging Shiloh's many attempts to trip him.

As Sora and remained entrapped in their little competition, Shiloh let free another round of loud laughter. She stopped running for a second to view the two competitive teenage boys, running ahead into the distance.

She began to pant a bit, hunching forward and leaning on her knees. She smiled to herself. She was definitely going to miss this when they left as well. This was one of those irreplaceable, good moments that you never wanted to forget.

But the real question remained—could all good things stay that way forever?

--

After the friends' little mini race together, they all decided to get started on their preparations. Or forced rather, by Kairi to begin.

Sora had been put in charge of gathering all the neccasaties in the food area for our trip. Of course, Sora whined and complained, and stated that he'd rather sleep to rest up for the trip instead of working before it, but Kairi simply insisted that food was needd.

So, while those two were off finding food, Shiloh had been stuck working with Riku on chopping the wood for the trip. It'd already been pretty much cut, they were just sharpening up a few tough ends, and making some extra to build the raft with.

As Riku went a little ways off to find a shape of wood that he preferred, Shiloh found herself staring up at their blue Destiny Island sky once more. She wondered what would go through her mind once they wouldn't be able to see the sky anymore.

Would she go crazy? She furrowed her brows at the clouds lumbering above her, and tried to place her worries behind mentally.

Meanwhile, Riku had seemed to have come back from his stroll for remaining wood, and began to get to work.

"Daydreaming again Shi?" he asked, positioning the wood accordingly underneath an axe he held.

Snapping back rather quickly Shiloh smirked, beginning to start her job as well.

"Maybe,"

"Well get your mind out of the gutter miss, we've got a lot of work to do," he instructed.

"Hush," Shiloh scowled. She'd already cut most of the wooo the day before, so there really was no rushing to be done.

Right as Shiloh finished talking, Riku brought the axe down upon the wood with implied force, breaking it in two with a loud _thok_. Shiloh then took the two broken pieces, and began to tie them together with a thick rope she had.

As she tied a tight knot around both logs to keep them together, Riku exhaled deeply, grabbing another log in the process.

"Y'know Shiloh," he beckoned. "I'm the only real man here that is capable of working on the raft like this,"

Rolling her eyes, she placed the finished combination in a pile. "Oh that's not true, I'm sure Sora could do the same exact thing,"

"Suure, he could," replied Riku, the sarcasm plainly obvious in his voice. He chopped another piece and handed it to a now annoyed Shiloh.

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm Riku. You really shouldn't talk like that about your best friend," she advised, tieing another piece together.

"Oh so what? Now a guy can't have confidence?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not confidence, that's just cockiness," she replied sharply.

"Why do you have to turn this into a debate?"

"Why do you have to act so boastful?"

"I'm not, I'm just stating what I'm capable of,"

"Well did you have to bring Sora into it?"

"It's called comparison,"

Shiloh sighed and folded her arms at him. Why were they even having such a stupid argument—she didn't need this. Looking to the side for an excuse to get away, she noticed that they'd run out of wood.

"Oh, would ya look at that, we're all out, I think I'll just go…get some more," she stated, turning on her heel and walking in the opposite direction. She could've sworn she head Riku mumble something arrogant again, but she just kept walking, planning to take as long as possible to find the remaining wood.

"Goodness Riku," she said to herself, folding her arms in front of her. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

Looking up suddenly to see if she could spot the log she was looking for, she spotted the large heap of wood, and then she spotted Sora. She was about to run and get it, but Sora had seemed to beat her to the punch by picking it up immediately. She shrugged lightly, that just meant she'd have to find another one—the longer it took, the better anyway.

But suddenly, Sora seemed to bound up to near where the Secret Place was. Shiloh blinked and cocked her head to the side, confused. She hadn't seen Sora go in there for an eternity, much the less herself.

Nevertheless, she quietly watched as he walked slowly past the small waterfall, brushing some upraised leaves out of the way, and then disappearing into the darkness of the miniature cave.

She was just about to follow Sora into the cave, when Riku suddenly came running up to her from behind. He stopped a bit short to catch his breath, then looked down at her, sighing a bit sadly.

"Hey, Shiloh…um, are you… mad at me?" he asked.

Shiloh smiled a little, looking down a bit herself.

"Well no not really, but it's just not fair to Sora when you talk about him that way," she said. "But I wouldn't get mad at you for such a stupid reason though,"

Riku nodded slightly, in thought, then smiled. "All right, I'll hold off on the bragging and such for a while, kay?"

"All right," she said, playfully flicking him in the arm. "But you'd better be telling the truth Riku,"

"I am, honest," he answered, holding his hands up innocently.

"Hey Riku, Shiloh!" yelled Sora from afar.

They both turned to look at him simultaneously. It looked like everyone had mostly done their share of work for the day, if not, everyone could finish up tomorrow.

"You wanna call it a day?" he asked.

"Sure," they both answered, beginning to walk over to their friend.

--

Shortly after, they all made their ways back to the little plateau, and resumed their positons on the bent palm tree, watching the sunset reflect off the ocean. Sora lay outstretch upon the end of the tree closest t the paopu's, while Kairi and Shiloh sat upright on the tree side by side. Whereas, Riku preferred to stand against the tree trunk, his arms folded in front of him.

The entourage watched quietly for a few minutes at the sun encased the isand in the glow from its sunset. Suddenly, Sora spoke up.

"So, do you really, think there are any other worlds out there? And of so, how far do you think the raft will take us?"

Riku shrugged lightly, now looking a bit serious, and focused.

"Well, when we get there we'll have to find out, because there are a lot of thing we don't know. But…we do know, that this world is just a little piece of something much more,"

Shiloh blinked at Riku with a bewidldered expression planted on her face. Had Riku really thought and figured all that out by himself? Sora and Kairi equally shared this expression.

"Wow…you've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah, thanks to you, and Shiloh. If you guys hadn't have come here, we never would've found out about the outside worlds," said Riku, gazing out into the ocean, tainted an orangish-red by the sunset.

"Shiloh, Kairi, thanks,"

"Your welcome…" they both replied, even though Shiloh really was still wondering how he had thought about all this. Looks like Riku _did_ have more things going on in his mind then bragging and etc.

She saw Sora cast a kind of weird look in Riku's direction, as he gave a suggestion that they should all go home and get some rest for tomorrow.

As they all began to walk back, Shiloh cast one more look over her shoulder at Riku, wanting to question him about all the information he'd just spoken, but she decided it could wait.

For a second, she was beginning to think that he knew more than her about these things…

--

The next morning came too quickly, and it seemed like an almost pointless day. But it was indeed very important, since tomorrow was the day when they would all set sail. Shiloh sat nonchalantly on the beach, unaware of what the others were really doing, and felt a bit restless. As she took in the sight of the waves covering the sand temporarily in front of her, she turned to hear a voice, almost like a whisper, behind her.

She spotted Wakka, speaking to Sora, right in front of the Secret Cave. Intrigued, she turned fully around, but remained quiet, eavesdropping on them. She'd almost forgotten that she'd planned to spy on Sora yesterday, but was interrupted by Riku abruptly.

It sounded like Wakka was planning to explore the Secret Cave tomorrow, after they'd left. She figured Sora was going in, probably just to visit before they left. For some reason, she had a strange urge to go in there too.

Standing up fully, and brushing the sand off of her legs, she slowly walked over to the Secret Cave, knowing that Sora had already gone inside. She knew she'd have to be quiet, since her prime objective was really to see what Sora was doing in there.

Shiloh, you sneaky little spy you…she thought, slowly creeping into the small cave. She remembered as a child, and how scared she felt when she first came into it. It was pretty dark, so she propped her hands up against the cold gravel, and partially felt her way through it. Miniature chalk drawings lined the walls along the way, drawn long ago by Sora, Kairi, Riku or she.

Shiloh smiled to herself, immersed in all her little childhood memories, until she heard a voice in front of her. It was obviously Sora's voice, but who in world was he talking to? She'd seen him go in alone, unless Wakka went in with him…? Shiloh looked behind her cautiously, to see if anyone else was planning on entering, then slowly crept forward more, to make out more of what Sora was saying.

"Quit freakin' me out like this!" he exclaimed rather loudly.

Shiloh flinched at Sora's loud voice, then she heard another voice. It was deep and menacing, almost monotone. She suddenly became a bit alarmed. She'd never heard that voice before, and it certainly didn't belong to anyone on the island!

Becoming more anxious and anticipated, Shiloh started to walk forward a little faster, now not really watching where she was going. As a result, her foot seemed to have snagged on a tree root, and she abruptly lost her balance. Spreading her hands out in front of her as she fell, she glared at the tree root that may have just exposed her being here.

"Stupid tree root," she hissed lowly.

"You again? C'mon! Show yourself!" Sora exclaimed, taking a step towards origin of the sound.

Shiloh remained on the cold cave floor, not moving to not give herself away at the moment.

He started towards the same spot at an even faster pace.

"Come out! I've got… mushrooms!" he said.

Shiloh snickered and shook her head. Mushrooms? She stood up quickly, holding up her hands innocently.

"Relax Sora, it's just me,"

"Huh? Shiloh! What're you doing here?" he asked. "How long were you there…?"

She giggled slightly. "Long enough to hear your mushroom threats,"

Sora gasped a bit, and looked away. "Oh! Well that was…um…"

Shiloh laughed at Sora's goofy-ness and tapped his shoulder.

"Well, c'mon. It's waay too dark in here," she said, and started back towards the cave entrance. Sora nodded merrily and followed, but turned around to take one last look at the place where the mysterious stranger had spoke to him. He hoped that Shiloh didn't hear him. He didn't who or what this person was, but it looked dangerous, and he didn't want it getting near any of his friends.

--

Now outside, Shiloh admired the welcoming glimmer of the sun gladly. She hated being closed up in dark places like that—it just wasn't her style.

"Ahh, that's much better," Shiloh said, as Sora came out shortly behind her.

As Shiloh stretched happily, Sora noticed a small charm attached to the waistline of her jet-black skirt. Sora stared at it intently, noticing it had four yellow, star shaped charms attached to it as well.

"Hey, Shiloh, you still have that charm?" he asked.

She turned around, and lifted it up in her hands, jingling it a bit with her fingers.

"Yup, I always have it on me," she replied merrily.

That charm was a special one. It had something to do with what Sora and Shiloh had did a couple of years ago, when they were very little. Sora then yawned briefly, a suggestion coming to mind.

"Well, we should probably head back to Riku and Kairi,"

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Shiloh, beginning to walk forward.

"Oh and Shiloh. We still never decided on a name for the raft…" Sora remembered, starting to walk as well.

Shiloh giggled and turned to him, the gold in her eyes dancing playfully.

"How about 'Sora's Raging Mushroom'?" she suggested.

Sora blankly stared at her and sighed a bit, chucking to himself.

"Haha, very funny Shiloh," he said, flatly.

"Why thank you," she replied, continuing to walk on.

--

Sora and Shiloh had finally reached the other side of the island, and met with Kairi and Riku there. Shiloh tiredly sat on the ground, her elbows propped up on top of her knees, while Kairi babbled on to her about Paopu fruits—or something like that.

She was really only half listening. Shiloh was a bit more focused on Riku and Sora, who were currently deciding on a way to determine who would name the raft.

"I just really wouldn't know who to pick though…" she said, looking over in Riku and Sora's direction.

Shiloh blinked, lowering her eyes. She might as well have given Kairi some advice on who to pick. She wouldn't mind being bonded to a person…but really. I mean, after all, she didn't believe in that ridiculous Paopu story. It wasn't true…right?

She though about it for a few seconds, then turned to face Kairi.

"Well…" she started.

"Hey Kairi!" Riku called from afar. "Could you start this race so we can decide who names the raft?"

"Uh sure," said Kairi, as she stood up.

Shiloh sighed with relief. She really hated the idea of Kairi waltzing over to both of them and asking them something like that, it'd make her feel…insignificant. Or something like that. She simply shook the thought away though, and hugged her knees tighter, and watched Riku and Sora get in their positions.

Kairi raised an arm to signal the beginning of the race.

"All right. Ready, set, go!" Kairi said, brining her arm down quickly.

Shiloh watched as the two boys raced off. They looked like they were neck in neck from what she could see. They took a couple f minutes to race around the small portion of the island, and back to where they had started. However, it turned out that Riku had won.

Riku smiled triumphantly, while Sora tried to convince him that he had really won.

Riku simply grinned, not really believing him, and when they asked Shiloh who she thought had won, she simply just shook her head.

--

Finally, the day seemed to be coming to a close. Shiloh really couldn't believe that this was the last Destiny Islands sunset that she'd ever see. Sora and Kairi were seated together on the small dock that was positioned right in front of the tide. They seemed to be intently focused on talking together.

Shiloh and Riku were also spending some current time alone, admiring the setting sun quietly as well. They were only a small ways apart from each other, but still, close enough for personal contact.

Riku sighed deeply, picking up a handful of sand in his gloved hands, and dropping in one specific spot to the side of him. Shiloh was quietly thinking to herself about miscellaneous things. There was still the fact that that strange voice had talked to Sora in the Secret Cave…

"So…can you wait? To go to the other world?" Riku asked her suddenly.

Shiloh shrugged a bit, her eyes still fixed on the beautiful sight in front of her. "Well, no, not really. If I could, I would actually leave today,"

"Yeah me too…" he replied, now brushing the sand of swiftly with his thumb. "But I'm kind of going to miss the island, y'know? All of our memories are here…"

"Well, we could always come back, couldn't we?" she asked worriedly, looking at him.

He turned to her with a bit of a sad expression on his face, his eyes answering her question perfectly. Shiloh looked a bit sheepish for a second, returning her gaze to the horizon once more. She carefully raised her hand to her chest, touching a small blue heart that hung from a necklace on her neck.

Riku grinned, noticing her actions. "Hey…you still have the charm…"

She smiled, remembering that Sora had asked her a similar question before. "Yeah…I've had it forever…" she replied.

"Do you remember, when we were younger, and we made that promise?" he asked.

Shiloh nodded. "Of course,"

She then watched as he pulled back the black sweatband on his arm to reveal a small bracelet with the same blue heart on it. Shiloh blinked.

"You still have it too, Riku…?"

He chuckled. "Hey, don't look so surprised. I'm wearing it for the same reason you are," he said, looking at her and raising an eyebrow.

Shiloh looked away a bit quickly, to hide the oncoming blush that was taking over her cheeks and started to reply.

"Well…yeah, I guess so. I mean, I-"

Shiloh gasped a little, for Riku had come over to where she was and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise. She looked over at Riku, a surprised expression on her face. She felt his soft breath caress her neck as she stammered to ask him.

"R-Riku…what are you-"

"Shiloh," he said, calmly.

"Y-yes?" she asked.

"I just want to let you know…whatever happens when we leave, I'll still…always protect you…" he finished.

Shiloh couldn't really believe what she was hearing. Riku was a really close friend of her and all, but she'd never felt this way around him. She never really felt so, protected around him…

"All right…I understand," she replied. "I'm going to do the same for you too…"

Shiloh then lowered her head unsurely, resting her chin on Riku's shoulder. She would've even fallen asleep if they hadn't have parted in the next few minutes.

They both didn't really have much to say after that, the awkward-ness looming over both of their heads for a while. However, Riku finally spoke up.

"Well, um…would you, like to go back with Sora and Kairi now?" he asked.

Shiloh nodded, a bit dazed, and her cheeks still tainted a deep crimson. "But…wait…Riku, can we do, one more thing, before we go?" she asked, twiddling her fingers a bit as they both stood up.

"Sure," he agreed.

"Could we go back to see the Secret Place together, just one last time?"

--

Chibi: Aww cute romance-ness (_huggies Shiloh_)

Shiloh: (_eating paopu_) Mmmm, these things are good.

Riku: (_eating same one_) Yeah, I know, tangy.

Chibi: OH My Gosh! You two are bonded for life now! I'll go get me camera! (_dashes off_)

Riku & Shiloh: O.o

Sora: (_playing Kingdom Hearts on PS2_)

Fan(s): We demand the use of your game console system.

Sora: (_snarls_) GET YOUR OWN!

Fan(s): HAND IT OVER!

Chibi: Well then, If anyone reviews for my story, I always send them a sweet personal message saying thankies! Either that or special mentions. X3

Sora (_just died in game_) NUUU! I died! (_faints_)

Fan(s): Our turns! (_grabs control_)

Chibi: The next chappy will be DUN DUN DUUN! The storm on Destiny Islands when the heartless invades! A lot will be revealed! (_shifty eyes_)


	3. Night of Fate

Chibi: Thank you my wonderful reviewers! Many hugs for you! (_hugs reviewers to suffocation_)

Shiloh: (_sighs_) This is a very important chapter.

Riku: Why? Cause I'm in it? (_does an incredibly cheesy smile_)

Sora: Uh…NO.

Chibi: YOU CAN'T BE IMPORTANT IN EVERY CHAPTER!

Riku: OK...(_sniffles_)

**Disclaimer**: I obviously don't own KH, if I did…I'D BE RICH! But I own Shiloh, which is OK too…(_sighs_)

**Chapter 3- NiGhT oF fAtE **

Shiloh sighed and stared at the small charm in her hand. It held the brightest luster, and was the prettiest shade of blue she'd ever seen; except for the person who gave the bauble to her in the first place's eyes. In the other hand, a small charm with four little stars on it, dangled in between her fingertips. A small sign of hope dwindled within its features.

Tightening her grip on the trinket in her hand, she hugged her knees and thought to herself quietly for a moment. She couldn't believe they were actually going to leave for other worlds tomorrow. They'd been awaiting this trip, this adventure, for so long. However, something was supposed to happen tonight, something that was going to stop them from leaving. A shiver swiftly crawled up her shoulders as she let out another sigh, and felt a wave of nervousness come over her. Her short, magenta-colored bangs caressed her knees as she hugged them tightly and buried her face in them.

"Why tonight? Why?" she asked herself in a muffled voice. She immediately stood up and started pacing, after shoving the trinkets in her pocket. Since she had no clue what to do about this doubtful and apprehensive situation, the only thing she could do now was wait. She continued pacing for a good five minutes, not believing the time had come so fast. Her clasped hands behind her tightened with nervousness as she paced, and she felt the trinkets jingle in her pocket as she moved. Her eyes suddenly fell upon her bedroom window, as if the answers would be there. Nothing but dark, purple clouds is what she saw.

"There is no solution. I must… accept it," she said, a slight quiver in her voice, then quickly rushed over to the front door of her home. Turning around and taking one last unsure look at her house, she turned around and ran towards the ocean, where her small boat lay tied to the dock. She grabbed the wooden oars on the boat, and lightly stepped into it. Shiloh inhaled a shaky breath and tried to let the scent of the salty ocean and dry, stale wooden boat calm her. She was going to return to the island, and sort this all out- see if everything she thought would happen _could_ happen.

Kicking off of the ground with her foot, she pushed out into the ocean, thrusting the oar into the water. She cast a worried glare at the dark, plum colored sky, spewing rods of lightening across the sky as she rode across the ocean. She began to row faster, executing more force on the oars she held. The soft sound of the oars cutting through the water seemed to calm her, but not enough. Finally, she'd reached Destiny Islands' shore. As she stepped onto the beach, the lavender sky seemed to churn faster.

"It's starting," she whispered, staring up at the clouds. Suddenly, a small thought occurred to her; Sora. Somehow she knew that Sora was the key…the key to something. _That key may be our salvation…or his demise_ she thought, swallowing hard.

Suddenly, small creatures began to form around her, sending chills through her spine. They appeared in a flash of dark, black clouds, surrounding her instantly. Shiloh gasped in a frightened manner, covering her mouth. They surrounded her, like a predator circling its prey, and shook their small heads, their antennae's quivering with excitement. She took a small step back, looking around at them-she recognized them.

They were the creatures from her dreams; the ones she feared the most. She began to back away once more as they raised their small, but sharp, claws, and glared at her with yellow eyes. _Should I run? Or should I… _she thought, but her thoughts were interrupted as the creature leaped towards her chest. She shut her eyes, awaiting silence and any kind of pain.

But there was no pain, she heard a voice. She looked up to see, brown haired, blue eyed, Sora standing in front of her. He was waving a harmless wooden sword towards them, which of course went right through them, but made them move away temporarily. After he had cleared the area a little more, he turned to face her.

"C'mon Shiloh! We've gotta get away from them!" he instructed, yanking her arm. She stared at Sora blankly, a little dazed by what just happened. _Wait! Don't let him take him take you! You don't want him to get hurt right?_ She told herself. Shiloh looked up and backed away from Sora, something pinging within the back of her mind.

"Please, Sora let go," she said, calmly. He gently let go of her, and blinked with concern.

"What's wrong Shiloh? Did they hurt you?" he asked, placing his gloved hands on her shoulders and looking her over. She stared at him for a split second, close to the truth. She wanted to tell him everything that she'd been dreaming about, that it was so much like what was happening now. The destruction of Destiny Islands- that was what she'd dreamt about. She shook her head, frowning at Sora's worried face.

"I-I'm sorry, but-"once again, she was interrupted. A dark portal opened up behind her, and the powerful gust suddenly started to suck her in. Shiloh let out a startled scream, resisting the pull of the monstrous vortex behind her. She didn't want to disappear into darkness- not now. Sora tightened his grip on his friend's shoulder, starting to get sucked into it himself.

He thrust the wooden sword into the ground, holding it by its handle to try and keep them from flying into the portal. He really didn't understand a thing that was going on, but he knew he couldn't let Shiloh get away from him, it was way too dangerous. Sora clenched his teeth as his grip on her shoulder loosened. Shiloh struggled against it, digging her feet into the sand.

"Shiloh!" yelled Sora, reaching for her hand.

"Sor-" she tried to say, but barely missing his hand, disappeared into the darkness. With Shiloh gone, Sora, worried and dumbfounded, stood there for a second, thinking _N-__No! I'm not losing her! She's one of my best friends!_ His bright blue eyes lowered to the ground as he withdrew his wooden sword from the sand. Sora tightened his grip on the wooden sword and shook his head.

What the hell was going on here? What was happening to the island? He turned around and glared at the creatures that surrounded him. He was going to find all of his friends and save them, and these strange creatures weren't going to stop him. His brunette bangs swayed just above his eyes as he turned to them and prepared to evade the next swarm of creatures' attacks.

--

Shiloh floated absentmindedly in the dark, attempting to breathe- the air was so thin. As she floated through nothingness, her hands trembled in midair at her sides. She'd been so close to telling Sora about her dreams, and everything, and this stupid portal just _had_ to whisk her away at this exact moment.

So she _was_ right about tonight, about this horrible event. Sighing heavily, she then saw an opening of a tiny light, and was floating right toward it. She passed right through it, and flew to the ground, headfirst.

"Ow!" Shiloh screamed at the ground, sitting up and rubbing her throbbing head. Suddenly, she looked around her, at the darkening sand- at the sand that covered her knees. She was still on the island, on the small, annexed part, where her friends and she had always hung out most of the time.

Shiloh exhaled heavily, placing a hand on her chest. So she didn't leave the island after all, she'd just teleported or something. She took a few seconds to inhale the still salty air; and think. _So I didn't leave the island after all…but __what just happened? What was that, some kind of black portal? _

"Shiloh!"

She lifted her head up to the very familiar voice. Riku was running over to her, crossing the bridge swiftly.

"R-Riku?" she asked as he approached her. Looking up at him from the sandy ground, she noticed that Riku seemed surprisingly calm at this time. Grabbing her wrist gently, he lifted her up and on her feet with muscular arms. Shiloh merely blinked, noticing a flicker of amusement in Riku's aquamarine eyes.

"You okay? You look…scared," he asked. _W-what's up with him? _She thought.

"I'm okay I guess, considering our island is being attacked by monsters- and I'm not scared," she answered, crossing her shaking arms against her chest. "I'm just…confused. Anyway, how are you?"

"I'm fine," he said, with a slight smile. Shiloh raised an eyebrow, wondering why he would be smiling at a time like this… very strange.

"Funny?" she asked. His smile grew wider, and he walked over to the palm tree, gazing at it with a level of intensity.

"Somewhat, but….its just… we're finally going to get off the island." She raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Riku, we can't leave! Our island…it's being besieged by dark monstrosities!" she retorted, looking around at their deteriorating island.

"They're our ticket out of here,"

"What? How could you know that?"

"Well, how could you know about tonight?"

Shiloh grew silent, partially numb, and asked "W-what?" He turned around and walked over to her. She backed away from him, the goldish color in her eyes flickering with fright.

"Wait Shiloh, just…forget about what I just said, I didn't mean to scare you. What's most important is that you're safe," he said, in a soothing voice. She continued to stare at him, and was tempted to tell him about the dreams, and exactly how she knew. However, there was something about Riku tonight. He seemed so different, so careless, and it was scaring her.

"R-Riku…I don't know-"she started.

"I can see you shaking." He paused, running hand through his silver colored hair. "I can assure you this, Shiloh. I would never hurt you, after all, I'm the person who's sworn to protect you," he continued.

Riku outstretched his hand towards her, a smug smile on his face. Shiloh looked to the ground, holding her hands tightly together. She remembered Riku's scent when he had hugged her yesterday, how warm his skin felt against hers, and shivered. She'd give anything to do that again, and feel the same security she'd always felt around him.

"Riku! Shiloh!" yelled Sora's voice, interrupting their conversation. They turned to face him as he ran over the small bridge connecting that part of the island.

"Shiloh, you're okay!" he exclaimed, smiling at her. He then turned to Riku, a worried expression planted on his usually mellow, smiling face.

"Riku, Do you know where Kairi is? I thought she was with you!" he yelled. Shiloh opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced when Riku approached her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her body towards him. _What in the world is he doing? _Shiloh thought, looking up at him, her cheeks turning almost as rosy as a redhead's hair.

"The door has opened Sora," said Riku.

"What?" Sora asked, his hands going up in a confused manner.

"The door has opened Sora! Now we can go to another world!"

"What are you talking about? We've got to find Kairi! Tell him Shiloh!" said Sora frantically.

She just stood there, staring at Riku, not saying a word. She blinked, looking at Sora and beginning to stutter. What in the world could she do? She had no idea where Kairi was, but she did know that there was a strong possibility that those creatures might have captured her, or worse, hurt her…

"Leave her alone! Its Kairi you're worried about right?" Riku questioned, holding Shiloh close to him. She stared up at him once more like he had three heads. Why was Riku being so cruel to Sora? Sora stared at the both of them for a second, questioning why Riku was acting this way in his mind. _What's wrong with Riku…why won't he tell me where Kairi is? And why's he…_ Sora thought, looking at Riku holding Shiloh.

"Besides, Kairi's coming with us. Once we step through, we might not be able to come back," said Riku.

His eyes glowed as he turned to stare at the glistening ocean behind them that they'd stared at for so many years. Even as the sky crackled louder, the ocean remained peaceful and still, reflecting the color of the black sky off of them.

"We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back, this may be our only chance- We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness." Shiloh continued to gawk at Riku, a little baffled that he knew all this information. He knew that we were going to leave the island this way all along.

"Riku," Sora whispered, although Shiloh heard him. He was confused as to why Riku was acting this way. Riku held his hand out to Sora, his chin caressing the top of Shiloh's head. She flinched as she replayed Riku's words in her head, and pushed herself away from him for a moment.

"Riku, p-please stop. What are you saying?" she asked, her hands trembling as she touched his shoulder.

He sighed, taking her shivering hands in his. "What I'm saying, is that we're leaving the island Shiloh, right this moment."

The second Riku spoke, the same darkness that had appeared among the trivial creatures' arrival began to encircle them. Shiloh gasped, looking around them, the air thickening with the presence of darkness.

"Sora!" Shiloh called, turning towards him. She didn't want to leave Sora here all alone, even if she felt that she couldn't be near him, like before. She tried to release her hands from Riku's grasp, tugging her hands towards her. Riku resisted, tightening his grip on her hands. He wasn't going to let her leave and go after Sora that easily. Shiloh's gaze returned to Riku, her glistening eyes marked with confusion. The wind gave an impending howl as the darkness began to overtake the ground around them.

"Riku please, we have to help-"

"No, Shiloh." Riku instructed gently.

Shiloh stopped struggling and lowered her eyes to the darkness covered ground. "I don't understand…" whispered Shiloh. She didn't want to abandon one of her best friends…

"Sora has to find his way through this on his own…we can't help him." Riku informed, raising her hands to his lips. Shiloh blushed and closed her eyes. Riku's lips felt so smooth against her skin. She lowered her head, causing her magenta colored hair to fall over her face.

The darkness was coming closer now, swaying menacingly around them and threatening to engulf them all. A musty scent began to descend into the air surrounding them. There was no going back now.

"Shiloh! Riku!" called Sora.

Shiloh slowly lifted up her head, her eyes turning glassy as she fought back tears. Sora and she locked eyes for a moment, Sora catching the desperation in her eyes. Sora outstretched his hand and braced himself against the thick air encircling them. Shiloh bit her lip, out of fear, and turned away from him.

Sora stretched his hand out further, to try and pull them to safety- wanting to save them. Shiloh squinted her eyes as she glanced at the darkness around her. It looked as if the sun had eclipsed or something, as the darkness completed its job of covering them in its endless shell. Riku let go of one of Shiloh's hands and held his hand out as well, towards Sora.

"Sora, I'm so sorry…Please remember our promise," Shiloh said as Sora's hand grew closer to Riku's. Sora gasped as his hand missed Riku's, and the darkness threw it itself in front of him. Now Shiloh saw nothing but darkness. She could feel the darkness pulling her and Riku apart. Riku attempted to tighten his grasp on her wrist, but the force of the abyss was pulling them apart like a tornado.

"Riku!" Shiloh screamed, her voice trembling.

"Don't be afraid Shiloh! I'll find you! Trust me!" yelled Riku, as they were separated, and she floated alone in the dark abyss. The only thing she could do was scream.

--

Meanwhile, Sora had obtained the ray of hope, the beacon of light, the keyblade. Sora stared at it in wonder, his hands grasping the metal-like substance on the outside of it. He grasped his new weapon with endless confidence as he watched the rest of his island begin to fall to the storm, and softly whispered to himself.

"Don't worry Shiloh, I'll be strong…for you."

--

Chibi: That chappie was so passionate (_sniffles_)

Shiloh: I'll say!

Chibi: I think I see a love triangle coming on!

Owen: Is it between Shiloh and I?

Chibi: Oh, this Shiloh's only fanboy, Owen, his full description is in my profile. And no, a love triangle is between 3 people and you (_rambles_)

Owen: (_obviously_ _flirting with Shiloh_) Did you say something?

Shiloh: (_throws a chocolate donut at Jeff_) LEAVE ME ALONE YOU STALKER!

Chibi: Well, that does it for Destiny Islands, now onto Traverse town! In the next chappy, Sora and Shiloh meet up once more and-

Shiloh: (_tackles Chibi_) DON'T SPOIL IT! Sorry about that folks, but you'll have to wait until the next chappie! Bye!

Fans: (_throws popcorn at Shiloh_) MEANIE!


	4. New Worlds, and New Controversies

Chibii: YAYS! More reviews! I'm so happy, I think I'll go gorge myself with chocolate.

Shiloh: SHHHHH! Its about to start!

Chibi: But it's not a movie!

Sora: Well-of course- I'd be the star! But Shiloh, in the last chappie, why did you run off with Riku?

Shiloh: …I do not wish to answer that question (_mumbles_) You can't pry secrets out of me while the fic hasn't really even started yet…

Chibi: This isn't a movie! (_eye twitch_)

Fans: (_throws popcorn at Chibi's eye_) SHHHHHHHHH!

Chibi: (_puts ice to eye_) Why do these unfortunate things always have to happen to ME?! (_throws a tantrum_)

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill, I don't own KH but I owns Shiloh, WHY DO YOU MAKE ME SAY IT EVERY TIME? HUH? HUH? (_throws pencil at computer in rage_)

--

**Chapter 4- **N**ew Worlds, and **N**ew Controversies**

Sora lay, in a new world, unconscious, and with the newfound, mysterious Keyblade. His head was propped up against the thick stone wall of a neat little shop behind him. The Keyblade lay in Sora's outstretched hand as his head turned to the side in an attempt to regain consciousness.

Just then, a rather obscure looking dog wandered to the back of the alley from which he'd landed, and was now tirelessly licking his face. Sora eventually came to his senses, greeted with the warm, wet tongue, and opened his eyes.

"What a dream…" said the drowsy teen, his head bobbing lazily to the side. He suddenly jumped up, exclaiming, "Wait…this isn't a dream! Where am I?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, ruffling up his spiky hair and looked to the dog in front of him. Its' gold-colored fur glistened from the nearby lamps that shone overhead in the strange new town he was in, and its large eyes brightened with excitement at Sora's awakening.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked it, as if it would know. Apparently, the dog didn't know, because it turned around, and went on its jolly way down the alley. Sora stared at the spot where the dog once stood for a few seconds, but something suddenly occurred to him.

"Hey, this is totally weird! I-I'm in another world!" he said out loud, getting to his feet. He looked around, and immediately spotted a sign that said "TRAVERSE TOWN".

"I wonder If Riku, Kairi, and Shiloh are here," he mused, staring at the sign, then at the Keyblade in his hand. He began to recall all the events that had taken place on the island, before he'd gotten here, and tightened his grip on the durable handle. "I think I'll go take a look around,"

--

Shiloh groaned lowly as she felt her hand twitch on the stone cold ground. The copper-like scent of pebbles and cobblestone greeted her nose as she opened her eyes to feel cold pavement on her cheeks. Her fingers still twitching and her head still spinning, she sat up slowly to see a small, white, almost pearl colored creature with a shiny big red nose and red pompom on its' head to match, staring at her. She flew back in shock, but lost her balance and fell on her back.

"What an idiot I am, how can you fall when you're sitting down?" she said to herself, rubbing her forehead vigorously to fully awaken herself.

"Are you alright? Kupo!" asked the red-nosed thing. Shiloh's eyes fell upon the mysterious, yet kind of cute, little being. She peered at it in an interested manner as she repeated the words it had just spoken.

"Ku-po?"

Rubbing her forehead one last time to make herself certain that she wasn't dreaming, she stared in a bewildered manner at the huge, bobbing, sphere on top of it's head, which glared a bright red at her.

"Well, um, I'm fine thank you. Not to be rude or anything, but what exactly ARE you?" she asked with curiosity. It simply folded its short, stubby arms and replied with an unusually cute squeaky voice.

"I'm A Moogle! Kupo!"

"A… Moogle?"

"That's right! But please don't touch my pompom."

The trivial moogle had good reason to calmly reprimand her, because Shiloh was now curiously poking the Moogle's large pompom on its head. It bobbed like an inflated tomato as she gave a sheepish smile towards it. Who could resist?

"Oh, I'm sorry, um, Moogle was it?," she asked, slightly embarrassed. Shiloh sighed, stood up, and took a step back, trying to figure out where she was, and where her friends were. She looked up at the blue sky, which really didn't compare to her island sky. It was just…boring, bland, and kind of depressing. Shiloh sighed, folding her arms and deciding that it probably would've been better if they'd just stayed on the island.

"So this world, its obviously not mine, so what's it called?" she asked the Moogle, looking back down at it.

"Well, this world is called Traverse town. Various people from other worlds have come to stay here, kupo! Because they've lost their homes," the Moogle replied.

Shiloh stared at the Moogle for a brief second, taking in what it had just said. _So, I'm in a world, alone? Like a stranded traveler? _,she thought. Her gaze drifted away from the Moogle and to the ground immediately. _Well, maybe… maybe, Kairi is here, or Riku, or …Sora! Yes that's right!_. She lifted her head up, and began to question the Moogle.

"Hey, have you seen a boy with spikey brown hair, and bright red shorts?" she asked, pointing to her clothes while she talked.

_Nooo! Your not supposed to make contact with him, remember? _Her conscience screamed. Shiloh seemed to remember something suddenly, from her conscience's outburst, but still looked at the moogle eagerly for an answer.

The Moogle pondered the question for a brief moment, and then raised its little head.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone like that, kupo!" said the Moogle. "Maybe if you ask Cid, in that shop over there, he can help you find him,"

"Cid…okay thanks," Shiloh nodded, disappointed, and sat on the edge of one of the nearby water fountains, not knowing what to do next. Running a mildly shaky hand through her hair, she gave a frustrated sigh.

She had no time to ask people around town if they'd seen him-way too time consuming. _He's not even here!_ _What should I do?_ she thought. In her dreams, she had foreseen the fate of her island, but why didn't she foresee this? She looked up to observe Traverse town, to be a little aware of her surroundings.

It's features consisted of hard cobblestone covering the ground, in the town's first district. High street lamps lined the sides; illuminating a small café very nicely. People who were obviously lost wandered around, probably looking for their friends or family, like her.

_Hmmm… maybe if I dream a little more, I can-_ her thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream. As a cold chill ran down her neck, she turned around to see those same creatures from the island that had attacked Sora and she. The creatures had found new prey, a young woman. But the important question was, what were they doing here?

The woman, startled, fell back in shock, as several of them began to deliver blows to her legs and back. Many of the other people, who were standing around, were now running for their lives, nearly trampling Shiloh and knocking her off the fountain in the process.

_That woman's in trouble! Should I help? Well, I don't have a weapon! _She thought, waiting for the crowd to pass by. She stood up, and saw the woman now on the ground, panting heavily, from fear. The dark creatures encircled the woman, ready to pounce. _I want to help somehow!_ I screamed inside.

Suddenly, a ball of light began to form in her hand. She watched in amazement, as the light grew larger, and almost practically blinded her, forcing her to look away. The dark beings looked away from their prey, and looked unto the strange source of light that had appeared.

When the light had subsided, and Shiloh was able to see, she stared at her hand. In it, was a long, silver rod with gold lining. At the very top of the rod rested a large, white heart.

Two star charms dangled from the opposite end. She almost dropped the forlorn object that had seemed to appear out of thin air, as she attempted to speak words amidst her shock.

"W-wha?" was all she could manage, while she stared at the foreign object in her hand. She blinked at it and furrowed her brows at the sight of this rod.

"What the hell is this thing?"

The dark fiends had seen enough; they were ready to obtain their prey's heart. They turned their heads back to the woman, rearing to attack once more.

Shiloh was _so_ struck with awe, she simply let her arm hang limp, with the rod still clasped in it. Although abruptly, the rod, still in Shiloh's hand, lifted _itself _up, and pointed towards the monsters.

A bright light shot from the top of the rod, and flew into the sky above. Needle-shaped fragments of light began to rain down; straight towards the beings. The slivers of light immediately pierced the creatures, making them disappear in a shroud of darkness.

Shiloh blinked, hard, and tried to figure out how she'd just done that. A few short babbles of shock were emitted from her lips before she could actually say something.

"H-how did I? How did this?" she questioned. The rod lowered in her hand, and she gripped it more firmly now.

_Okay, hang on, now I have defense, but how do I use it? And was that attack supposed to be a lesson of some sort? _She questioned in her mind. She shook the rod gently, wondering if it would do something else. More of the abnormalities began to appear; and this time, they were coming for her.

"Aww, great," she complained, backing up slowly.

This wasn't looking too good-she was practically defenseless. Without her knowledge of how to use the strange rod, it may as well have been a useless and abnormally large pipe of some sort. Just then, a voice, a joyous voice that filled her with hope, came out from behind her.

"Hey! Shiloh," yelled Sora's voice from afar.

Shiloh turned around, and smiled at her dear friend this time. She was so happy to see him; he was okay- Sora was okay!

"Sora!" she replied.

Sora ran up beside her, realizing the situation at hand immediately as he spotted the creatures materializing.

"Need some help?" he asked, with a grin.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied, happy that someone that she knew was right beside her. She was so happy she briefly forgot that she wasn't supposed to talk to him. Nevertheless, Sora charged at the beings with full force, slashing them with his keyblade. _Okay, I'm gonna help Sora help me now…but how do I use this thing?_ She thought, waving the staff in the air, to try and make it work-but to no avail.

Sora took a reprieve from his fighting for one second, to examine Shiloh's staff, while the creatures reassembled their forces. He peered down at the top of it, poking it with a finger, and suddenly abruptly smacked the floor with the staff. Shiloh gasped, taking it from him quickly but gently.

"Sora! You'll break it!" she said, with a worried expression.

Sora grinned heartily, holding up his Keyblade. "Sorry, but you don't know how to use it? Not even just a little?" he asked.

"No, not really," she replied, shaking her head.

Sora was about to suggest something, but was interrupted when one of the monsters charged at them. He quickly made haste of it, and went for the others. Shiloh was trying to dodge the creatures' attacks, but one quickly struck her on the shoulder, sending a sting of pain through her collarbone. As she fell to the ground, she quickly rolled away from it, trying to gain some distance between them.

"Damn," she cursed, rubbing her shoulder. They all seemed to be aiming for the chest area, for some reason. The same being that had hit her before, was now in front of her, and jumped eagerly towards her.

She could've sworn she heard Sora's voice in the backround, but she was too caught up with her own thoughts at the moment, and could hear nothing. _Sora can't save me now, nobody can, except me_ she thought, and raised her rod towards the creature.

Her lime green eyes glared daggers at the creature as she held it firmly and tightly above her. A small light began to glow at the top as she swung it at full force towards the creature. It disintegrated, to her content, and she smiled with relief, putting a hand to her chest.

Flashing a quick reassuring smile towards Sora, she now prepared to take out the rest of them, along with Sora. Now the duo were slashing at the creatures left and right, gaining a little experience with every hit.

--POL--POL--POL--

When the fight was over, the inhabitants of Traverse town began to slowly return to the streets. Young children looked warily around as they stepped forward, along with other adolescents and a couple of Moogles. Sora and Shiloh were now sitting on the floor, panting heavily, their newfound weapons on the floor beside them.

"Thank you so much for saving my wife!" exclaimed a random man, who had ran up to them.

"No prob," Shiloh answered, with a bit of tediousness. He nodded, and quickly ran off to calm his shaky wife down.

"You were amazing Shiloh!" said Sora, gathering his Keyblade and standing up.

"Are you kidding me? I nearly got creamed!" she cried, standing up as well.

"Well, you fought pretty good to me..," he trailed off.

A tiny forlorn blush escaped Shiloh's cheeks as she replied, "You were pretty good, yourself. But, I'm so glad I found you. I was afraid that I was going to be in this world alone,"

"Me too! I woke up and was really surprised, because we made it to a new world and all. But you guys weren't here with me, so I went to go find you and the others, and here you were!" he exclaimed, talking a mile-a-minute.

Shiloh smiled and glanced for a moment at all the people already returning to their daily lives here.

"Maybe they…are still here, if we all ended up in the same place,"

Sora nodded. "They've got to be here! Since we've came here, they should've followed us here after that world travel right?"

Shiloh nodded, although she knew that that, of course, was not true. There were odds of all of them ending at the same world, but the random portal that had sucked them in could've dropped the others off just about anywhere.

"Maybe soon, we'll figure out what this is too," Sora said, holding the Keyblade up to his eye level.

She glanced at him from where she sat, and set her eyes on the key in Sora's hand. Shiloh already knew what Sora's weapon was, of course. What do I not know about this little excursion…she thought, trying to look as confused as possible. It was the Keyblade, the one item that could seal worlds and defeat the Heartless. However, Sora didn't seem to have the slightest idea what it was.

"Yeah, maybe..," she said; but she still wanted to know what _her_ weapon was, which was indeed, the one thing she didn't know…among a couple of other things. She assumed a thinking pose with her finger on her chin and wondered how long she could really keep this little pretending charade up.

Before Shiloh could snap back into reality, Sora had already bounded up the steps ahead of her. Now aware, she huffed a little breath of frustration and began to stroll up the steps after Sora.

"Hey, wait for me!"

xXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxPOLXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxPOLxXxXPOLxXxXPOLXxX

"Accessory shop," read Shiloh off the sign on the door. Sora simply shrugged, and opened the door. They saw a man with blonde hair, leaning casually on the counter in front of him. His long white t-shirt lay spread out on the counter as he lifted his head to see who was coming in. Removing a toothpick that seemed to perturb from the inside of his mouth, he spoke up in an enthusiastic manner.

"Hey, how can I… Aw, its just some kids..," he said.

"So this is how you treat your customers? No wonder you have no service here!" she exclaimed, picking this idea up from how excited he looked to have people coming in.

"And don't call us kids, the names Sora!" he said, with a dominant tone, pointing to himself proudly.

"Okay, okay, simmer down." He replied, not at the least bit surprised by the teens' outbursts'. " So, are you two lost or something?" said the man, running a hand through his faded blonde hair.

"No!" yelled Sora quickly, without thinking. Shiloh sighed, and playfully tugged on his ear.

"We're lost, our island was destroyed by…um monsters, but, this is Traverse town right?" she answered. He nodded slightly, lifting up a hand to scratch the peach fuzz that was visible around his chin.

"Looks like you're in the same situation as a lot of people here, including me,"

"Traverse town… So, gramps, this is another world right?" Sora asked. Shiloh forced herself to stifle her laughter over the fact that Sora called him "gramps", probably in contradiction to their names earlier.

"Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid! Anyway, not exactly sure what you're talking about, but this sure isn't your island," Cid mused.

Shiloh sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well we know _that_…"

Sora gave a short chuckle and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Shiloh! Lets start our search for Riku and Kairi again! They could be around here…somewhere," he said.

"Well, good luck with whatever it is your doing. If you two ever run into trouble, you come to me, I'll look out for you," Cid said.

"Thanks Cid," she replied, and began to walk out, then turned back around, and asked something that had been tugging at her once they'd came inside the shop.

"Say Cid, how exactly did you get here?"

He fiddled with the tiny toothpick in his hand for a moment before answering. "Well, our world was destroyed, as you could say, much like yours,"

Shiloh narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment before nodding, then turning to walk outside alongside Sora.

The two ventured from district to district looking for their friends. They all seemed to look exactly the same, except maybe a district or two was bigger than the other. Of course, they were greeted by a couple of heartless each time around, and were getting their fair workout for the day. A couple of times, they thought they saw their friends around in the large and quaint town, but to no avail.

--

As Shiloh and Sora entered the First district once more, in front of Cid's shop, Sora folded his arms in frustration. They now positioned at the base of the stairs, Sora seated on the very last step.

"Where could they be? We've looked everywhere!" he said.

Shiloh listened to him, looking down and balancing a pebble from the ground on the tip of her finger. The situation at hand seemed very hopeless, and it was clear that they really weren't here. They obviously weren't here, so she may as well have. But Sora absolutely had to stay on his toes with this. She gave another tired sigh, and took another look at the Keyblade in thought.

"Sora," she beckoned, her hazel eyes focused on the key in his hand.

"Huh?"

"Remember what I told you. Be strong, don't give up," she instructed, standing up, and beginning to pace around him a bit. Sora tilted his head to the side, in thought, and then remembered that she _had_ told him something like that.

"Um…okay…but," he started, his mind in a current scramble.

"But anyway," said Shiloh, the mysteriousness of that last statement replaced by this new one. "We should get moving, we don't want those things to follow us here,"

He wanted to know why she went with Riku at that time on the island, instead of him. Didn't she trust him? He opened his mouth to question her about it.

"Um, Shiloh I-,"

"They'll come at you, out of nowhere." Said a man that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The two teens turned to look at the figure that had interrupted their conversation.

Shiloh swallowed a bit hard; the scar on his face seemed to be intimidation enough, alongside the shining sword that glared at them from upon his shoulder. He narrowed dark brown eyes at them from the top of the stairs above them.

"Who are you?" asked Sora, in a curious tone.

"And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you wield the Keyblade," he continued, pointing at Sora and disregarding his question.

Sora stared at him for moment, for he didn't know what the hell this guy had just started saying. It really didn't help that he was a total stranger. He looked to Shiloh for words, but she merely shrugged, noticing that the area that they stood in front of had seemed to have been cleared of bystanders in less than a minute.

"And as long as _you_ wield the Heartscepter," he said, pointing at Shiloh.

Shiloh seemed a little cautious to even talk to him, but nevertheless spoke up. He seemed to have knowledge about Sora and she.

"You know what it is?" she asked.

"But the Keyblade, why would it choose a kid like you?" he rambled on, motioning to Sora once more.

Shiloh sighed. This guy really should've learned some manners.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" retorted Sora, undoubtedly insulted.

"Never mind, now lets see that Keyblade," he said, taking a step forward a bit menacingly.

"What? There's no way your getting this!" replied Sora, whipping out his Keyblade in a flash of light.

Shiloh sensed some sort of struggle coming up, so she held out her hand for the, so called, Heartscepter to appear as well.

"Alright, then have it your way," said the man, swinging down the sword from his shoulder.

"Sora who the hell is-," Shiloh began to say, but was abruptly seized from behind, to her surprise. Gloved hands covered her mouth and tried to pull back the teen from where she was standing, but she began to flail madly.

Angrily, she bit into the glove that stifled her struggling sounds, and though for a second she had sunk her teeth into some flesh. Of course, it was a little hard to kick because, she was rather short, and the person restraining her was a little taller than she was.

"Sorry," the restrainer said in almost a low whisper, the voice obviously belonged to a woman.

Shiloh struggled even more to break free of her tight grasp, retaliating a muffled "Let go of me!"

Suddenly, the grip grew unbearably tight on her arms, stifling her attempt of escaping. She felt a sharp blow connect with her abdomen instantly. A sharp cough escaped from her lungs as the impact of the blow, caused her to relax immediately.

--POL--POL--POL--

Meanwhile, In a distant world, Riku lay, his eyes closed in unconsciousness. He soon opened his eyes, the faint roar of a distant waterfall brining him to his senses.

As he stood up, very slowly, the glint of the sun, peeking slightly out from behind gray clouds, caught his eye, showing the pure aquamarine color of his pupil. He looked around at this new world, and He screamed _their_ names. He called again, no answer. But somewhere above him, someone was watching him intently, but just who exactly was?

--POL--POL--POL--

Shiloh opened her eyes to a bright light and a slight breeze, apparently from an overhead fan. She sat up slowly, then her hands quickly went to her stomach, which was now throbbing with minimum pain. It really hadn't helped that pretty much her whole stomach had been exposed when she punched her.

"Look Yuffie, that one's waking up," said the voice of the man that had confronted Sora and she earlier. Alarmed, Shiloh shot a low glare at them from the bed that she sitting up in. The two were positioned across the room, looking straight at her intently.

"What do you people want?" she asked, wondering where exactly they had taken her, and Sora, wherever he was.

"Whoa, calm down. Don't worry, we were doing you guys a favor," said the girl he had called Yuffie as she walked toward her with something in her hand.

"Here," she said, placing a cold compress in Shiloh's hand. "Sorry for hitting you earlier,"

Shiloh looked up at her, a confused expression planted on her face, but nevertheless she took it. "Um, thanks…"

"I'm Yuffie," she stated.

"And that's Leon," she also said, while pointing across the room to Sora's attacker. He was casually leaned against the wall, with his eyes closed, he looked like he was sleeping or something.

"I'm Shiloh," she said, eyeing the sword fastened tightly to the belt on the Leon's jet black pants. Suddenly, she'd remembered that Sora had begun to fight him before we came here, and she looked around for a moment.

"Wait…Sora?" she asked, then looked to the side to see him sleeping peacefully. "Oh there he is,"

She blinked, surprised that she hadn't noticed him there- he'd always been a quiet sleeper, restless at times though.

"Don't worry, I'll wake him up!" exclaimed Yuffie cheerfully, walking over to him and leaning into his eye level.

"C'mon lazy bum, wake up!" she instructed to the sleeping Keyblade master. Sora responded with a low moan, and slowly opened his eyes.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I guess…" he replied, still looking a little drowsy from Shiloh's perspective.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want- simply because you wield it."

"I'm so glad your okay Kairi" he said, sounding a little delirious.

Shiloh blinked, looking at Sora for a moment. "Hm?"

"Kairi? Who's that? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" she exclaimed, standing straight up with confidence.

"Huh?" asked Sora, now confused, bringing a gloved hand to his face to rub his eyes.

"I think you might've overdone it Squall," she said, turning to face him.

"That's Leon," he corrected solemnly.

"No, I think that's just Sora's little mind that's acting up," Shiloh said, laying back on the bed and relaxing with the cold ice on her stomach.

"Oh, Shiloh, Are you okay?" he asked, sitting up fully and looking at her.

She motioned thumbs up with one hand, replying "Peachy," a bit dully.

"You?"

"Well, I can't say I'm doing that bad…" he replied, taking a look around the tiny hotel-looking room they were in.

"So, Yuffie, the Keyblade?" he asked her, remembering what she had said before.

"And the Heartscepter?" asked Shiloh, sitting up.

"Yeah, we had to get both of them away from you to shake off those creatures," she replied.

"It turns out, that's how they were tracking you."

"It was the only way to conceal your hearts from them, but it won't work for long," said Leon from his spot on the wall.

"So, what would happen if they actually got our hearts?" Shiloh asked.

"They would destroy them," she said. Shiloh and Sora looked at each other briefly with shocked expressions, they didn't know the creatures were _that_ dangerous.

"Still, Its hard to believe, that you, of all people, are the chosen one," he said to Sora.

Sora's bright, blue eyes shot a bit of a glare at Leon.

" I guess you're up to the job, you look smart, but… looks can be deceiving," he said to Shiloh. Her eyebrow twitched, out of anger, and she glared at him.

"Well then you must be the one who's deceiving _me_, because you look pretty bright yourself," she replied curtly, nudging Sora to take the ice pack if he needed it.

Leon waited to answer a second, meeting Shiloh's hazel eyes in a brief little stare down.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers," he finished, having disregarded Shiloh's comment back.

" Well why don't you start making some sense! What's going on here!" yelled Sora, agitated and confused.

"Fine." Replied Leon flatly as he gestured to the window. "Those creatures, they're called the Heartless," he said.

"The Heartless?" asked Sora.

"The ones who attacked you guys, remember?" said Yuffie.

_So they're called the Heartless_, thought Shiloh. It kind of surprised her that she didn't know that already, but nevertheless she listened to Leon and Yuffie's information.

"They're those without hearts," he continued.

_Now __that__ was_ _just a little obvious, _Shiloh thought, again.

"And there is darkness within every heart," he stated.

"Hey, have you heard of someone named Ansem?" questioned Yuffie. Shiloh immediately froze, and her oncoming breath caught in her throat for a second. She'd heard that name before, somewhere. She tried to focus on the name and see if it would open any doors in her memory, but to no avail.

She focused hard, staring at her hands and blotching out what the others were now saying amongst themselves.

Suddenly it hit her, what that name exactly meant. She grabbed her head abruptly, which was now shrouded in painful memories, all in the mention of that name. Sora noticed, and grabbed her shoulder gently.

"Shiloh, are you okay?" he asked, noticing his friend's movement.

"Oh I'm fine, don't mind me," she said, and tried to offer a reassuring smile.

Yuffie nodded, and continued, "He studied the heartless, a very long time ago, and he made a report about all of his findings."

"So, this is the key?" asked Sora, summoning his Keyblade by opening his hand.

"Exactly," said Yuffie.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade, that's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what," said Leon.

"Well, I didn't ask for this!" whined Sora.

"The Keyblade chooses its master," clarified Yuffie.

"What about the Heartscepter?" asked Shiloh, recovering from her daze.

Yuffie took a moment to remember what they had found out about that. " Well the Heartscepter's wielder must have a very pure heart, in order to wield it. Its' also a very powerful weapon, it can send hearts to eternal rest, defeat heartless, and…" Yuffie trailed off.

"And?" Shiloh asked.

"And its like, the protector of the Keyblade- with the Keyblade, it makes a beautiful, and powerful combination of light," she finished. She could see Sora blushing a bit beside her, and she smiled and said "Wow,"

She couldn't really look at Sora right now, since she blushed easily and didn't really want anyone to see, so she simply stared at the olive colored sheets on the bed. _A beautiful combination? How about a beautiful couple?_ she thought, then quickly covered her face.

_Why am I thinking that? Stop it!_ She thought. Sora was more of a brother than a real lover…well that's how it'd seemed until recently…

"So, to both of you, tough luck," said Leon.

"How did this all happen? I remember being in my room- Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!" yelled Sora, his voice sounding confused, a little scared. He turned to face Shiloh.

"Shiloh..,"

She shook her head and grasped part of her short, pink hair in her fingers. She knew the answer to that as well, as to why the heartless had attacked Destiny Islands.

"You know what? I really don't know," replied Leon, averting his eyes to the ground. Then, they all fell silent. This is what would probably happen to everyone who lost their worlds to the Heartless, except of course obtaining the Keyblade and Heartscepter.

Sora sighed, "I'm sorry Shiloh, you told me to be strong, and I'm not being very strong am I?" asked Sora. She turned to face him, her eyes brimming with tears, just a little.

"Sora, you're being stronger than me," she said, smiling. Sora gave a small sigh, trying hard not to burst out in anger at their fate, and as to why they had separated so abruptly.

Instead, wrapped his arms around Shiloh. He slid his hands under her hair beside her neck, while she let out all of her tears on his shoulder. She felt stupid and childish, why was she always feeling that way? Sora had about the same responsibility with the Keyblade as she had with the Heartscepter. So why couldn't she be confident about like him?

The sweet aroma of a fresh bouquet of roses embraced Sora's nose as he pressed his cheek against her shoulder. They had said that she had a pure heart right? Whatever that had meant. Maybe this pureness had blended into Shiloh's physical features too, as well. At least that's what Sora thought.

"All right Shiloh, we'll find the others okay?" he asked in lulling tone, patting the top of her head with his free hand softly. Shiloh sniffed, wiping her eyes and tried not to cry anymore.

"Thanks, Sora," she said, pulling back a little to breathe and rid her eyes of this blurry, tear-stained vision. She then blinked and looked up, remembering that Leon and Yuffie were still in the room.

"Of course," he said.

Leon was looking away, the first smile she'd ever seen on him planted on his face, while Yuffie giggled a bit lowly at the scene.

"Get a room you two," cooed Yuffie.

Shiloh felt her face turn madly hot as she tried to thin of something to detour them from what they had seen. "Wait, it's not what it looks like…?"

Sora, on the other hand, looked kind of happy, comfortably swinging his legs to hang off the little bed. _Heheh, just like when we were little_, he thought.

--

Eventually, they broke apart and rested for a little while on the bed, sitting silently.

"So…what are we gonna do now?" she asked, wondering how long they were going to be able to stay in this little room. Sora shrugged a bit, standing up to a get a little tretch in.

"Well, we can't stay here forever," said Yuffie, turning to them. "They'll eventually find out that you guys are here,"

"And that's why we should be leaving now," said Leon, finally averting from his slouched position on the wall.

"You must fight for your life, be prepared. Are you ready?" he asked them, a little dramatically.

"We're ready," Sora replied.

"Yuffie, Lets go join Aerith, she should be there by now with the other visitors," instructed Leon. Suddenly, a heartless with strange armor appeared in the room, in a sudden flash on dark purple. It jumped up rather erratically, the helmet on its head rattling loudly.

"Leon!" yelled Yuffie, as it materialized completely.

"Yuffie go!" ordered Leon, and she ran out of the room.

"Shiloh! C'mon!" said Sora, taking her hand and nearly ripping it off running over to Leon.

"Wha?," she responded, obviously a bit surprised. Nevertheless, she held out her hand for the Heartscepter to appear immediately as she followed Sora over to Leon, who slashed at the present Heartless in the room.

"Sora, Shiloh, Lets go!" said Leon, and the party dashed towards the exit, which was the small window.

Leon leaped outside, followed by Shiloh and Sora, and they abruptly landed on a rooftop that was close to the tiny Hotel window.

The entourage quickly dashed across the roof, weapons in hand. Leon instructed once more, "Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader, lets go!", then dashed ahead of them.

"We can do this!" yelled Sora to no one in particular, clasping Shiloh's hand tighter, and running faster.

"That's right," she agreed, keeping up the same pace as Sora. "But Sora, you're crushing my hand,"

"Sorry," he replied, letting go, then looking around a bit.

"Wait, where is this?"

"Umm…Second District!" exclaimed Shiloh, looking around. "We shouldn't go to the first, they'll be expecting it, maybe the third is best," she pondered.

"Third it is," said Sora, as he started to run in the direction that the Third District was in.

--

"You okay?" asked Shiloh, once they'd reached the largest district of them all. Sora was bent down a bit, one hand on his knee, as he panted a bit heavily. Probably from all the running they'd been doing.

"Yeah, you?" he asked.

She nodded, panting a little along with Sora, and looking around. "Hey, where do you think Leon and Yuffie went?"

"I dunno," He replied, lifting up his Keyblade. "But I DO know that I could fight these things all day!," he triumphantly stated, summoning the Keyblade.

Shiloh shot a smirk at Sora's always- present confidence, then was startled by a shriek of some sort from far away.

The two teens slowly turned around, hearing the voice coming closer, like a bee being drawn to honey.

Shiloh and Sora finally looked up to see a goofy looking dog, and an oversized duck, both with clothes on, flying towards them. Shiloh simply took a step back, and thought that Sora would do the same, but instead, he began to run forward, but didn't make it. The dog and duck fell right on him. They all lay on the ground for a split second, all collecting their minds after the hard fall.

Shiloh blinked in bewilderment, and seeing Sora squelched under these people, she shook her head. _And to think, that could've been me If hadn't have stepped away…_

"The key!" they exclaimed, still squashing Sora, but strangely interested in the Keyblade.

"Actually, Key_blade_ to be exact," she corrected, with a smile.

"The heart!" they exclaimed, once more, looking at the Heartscepter.

"That's Heart_scepter,_" she corrected, again. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and miniature heartless began to appear. The dog and duck both had weapons, and so did Sora and Shiloh- so they were left with no choice but to defeat the heartless together.

While fighting, Shiloh observed that the duck used some sort of magic to attack and heal, while the dog used a tiny shield that seemed to deflect some attacks.

After the fight, yet another heartless came into view. Only this time, it was humongous, and much more intimidating than its small fry cousins. The large armored structure dropped from the sky and onto the floor. Then, strangely, the dismantled arms and legs were simultaneously strewn together with a loud clank.

"What?" said Shiloh, stunned and a little scared.

"Don't worry," reassured Sora. "If we all work together, we can defeat it,"

_How cliché Sora_…Shiloh thought. _And yet…true_

The party then rushed forward to attack the large armored structure. The Big heartless, or the Guard Armor, began to attack as well, its levitating arms swinging towards the party.

An armored, closed fist swiftly connected with the ground, followed by the legs and torso, right toward the young heros.

Shiloh and Sora's new allies nimbly dodged the blow, and began attacking the somewhat defenseless torso. Meanwhile, Sora and Shiloh took the opportunity to strike the now spinning hands and feet.

The hands movements seemed almost impossible to predict, since they were floating in midair and all. However, they seemed to be evading them just fine, once they got the hang of it. They even gained rejuvenating healing orbs after they destroyed a miniature Heartless Shadow every time. Sora, just avoiding being crushed by an enormous foot, started to ready himself to strike it in midair. However, his strategic plan was interrupted, when it gave quite a vigorous swing right in his direction.

"Sora! Look Out!" yelled Shiloh, seeing the scene from a little ways away as she held a Shadow back with her Heartscepter.

He turned around swiftly to twist away, but the blow struck him too fast for him to evade. As he tried to stand up, and counter, the same hand that had struck him pinned him down, balling up into an enormous fist and slamming down upon him.

"Crap…" Shiloh muttered, shoving the Shadow off of her with one forceful push.

The duck and dog seemed to have defeated the torso, but it seemed they had gotten knocked out in the process. The two were sprawled out on the floor, looking dizzy and disoriented.

Shiloh hastily rolled to the side of oncoming Shadows, and rushed over in Sora's direction to deflect the attack that the upraised hand and leg prepared to initiate on Sora.

Sora struggled fiercely against the hands pinning him down. "Shiloh, what the hell are you doing? You can't block that! Run away!" he advised loudly.

"Just trust me!" she screamed back, raising her Heartscepter above her head a little.

She knew she wasn't going to be able to deflect it, but what else could she really do? She knew she wasn't going to succeed, but she was only doing it for Sora. Swallowing hard, she smiled to herself and sighed. _He never ever gave up on me, so it would be heartless to give up on him…_

Just then, the raised arm and leg came down at full force at the young teenage Heartscepter wielder.

--POL--POL--POL--

**T**_o_ **b**_e_ **c**_o_**n**_t_**i**_n_**u**_e__**d**_…

--

Chibi: That took me FOREVER to type! As a result, my computer died due to overuse. (_points to dead computer_)

Fans: (_pulls new computer out of Chibi's garage_) HA! Nice try! But its' right here!

Chibi: Aww… (_rubs swollen eyes from sleep deprivation__, and starts typing_)

Shiloh: Look at this cool new Moogle plushie I found!

Moogle plushie: Kupo! Kupo! Kupo!

Riku: What about the plushie I gave you?

Shiloh: (_throws plushie at Riku's face_) There, HAPPY? Now leave my Moogle plushie and I in peace! (_several eye twitches_)

Sora: (_has been playing KH for 4 days straight_) Must…beat…Riku.

Riku: (_glares_) I hate you too.

Sora: HAHA! Take that tiny Riku! OH! OH! I dodged it! Watcha gonna do now Riku? Watcha gonna do now! (_is jumping around wildly_)

Jeff: Chibi, there's chaos everywhere, Chibi?

Chibi: (_snoring on the keyboard_)

Jeff: Well then… chappy five coming soon! Please review! Bye!

Riku: Sora stop it! (_breaks PS2_)

Sora: NUUUUUUUUUU! My pride and joy! (_dies_)


	5. Hearts and Flowers

Chibi: Well, I have to say, I wasn't pleased with how I ended the last chappy at all. I am deeply sorry to my reviewers and readers, and I hope it didn't affect your reading of my fic. . Heheh. My bad.

Shiloh: That's it!? All that saucy stuff and a 'my bad'? Pfft.

Chibi:… But, thanks for reviewing!

Fan(s): (_throws a pie at Chibi_)

Riku: I HAVE A ROCK IN MY SHOE!

Chibi: It look's like we're starting off the fic with a daily cup of randomness. (_sighs and wipes whipped cream off of her face_) I'll go get dressed. (_walks off somewhere_)

Shiloh: I LOVE'S MAH MOOGLE PLUSHIE SOO MUCH! (_is still hugging Moogle plushie_)

Fan(s): (_winces_) Do ya HAVE to yell?

Sora: WHHHHHHHY?! WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?!

Fan(s): …(_sigh_)

Sora: (_sobs_ and _is mourning over broken PS2_)

Owen: I'm back from my shopping trip! I bought a bunch of stuff for Shiloh! And nothing for anyone else! MWAHAHA! Anyway, is Chibi awake?

Chibi: (_jumps out of nowhere in a star costume_) ITS PAOPU TIME! (_does the Macarena until it starts to rain asparagus_)

Jeff: AHH! YOU RANDOM FREAKS!-Except you Shiloh- AHHH! (_runs away, trips on an asparagus, and bumps his head on a tree_)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything else, but I do own Shiloh, her uber shiny new Heartscepter, aand MY STAR COSTUME! But I don't own the paopu and the Macarena…. But It sure is fun! (_does the Macarena again)_

_C_hapter 5- _H_earts and _F_lowers

_Recap:_

"_Shiloh, what the hell are you doing? You can't block that! Run away!" he advised loudly._

"_Just trust me!" she screamed back, raising her Heartscepter above her head a little._

_She knew she wasn't going to be able to deflect it, but what else could she really do? She knew she wasn't going to succeed, but she was only doing it for Sora. Swallowing hard, she smiled to herself and sighed. He never ever gave up on me, so it would be heartless to give up on him…_

_Just then, the raised arm and leg came down at full force at the young teenage Heartscepter weilder._

--

It all happened in slow motion.

The Guard armor's sharp claws were headed straight for Shiloh's upraised Heartscepter, prone to crush her. All her motives, all her thoughts, at that exact moment were entirely focused on protecting Sora. She closed her eyes, and awaited the loss of her heart, and inevitably, her life.

But unbelievably, her Heartscepter quickly raised itself at that moment, beginning to glow that fierce bright light again. There was yet another breif flash of light, and a large dome seemed to emit from the middle of the staff.

The hand slammed against the barrier-like structure, sending a large screeching sound to ring throughout the District. Repelled back by the force of it, the Guard Armor's arm recoiled to the ground. When Shiloh opened her eyes, she lifted the staff up, to examine its extraordinary features.

"Wow..," was all she could say once more, from the previous squabble with the stray heartless.

Sora immediately took the chance to bash the remaining hand that still held him, and ran over to Shiloh. He spun Shiloh around to face her, almost making her trip, as the Guard Armor regained its' balance from her attack.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worriedly.

"Of course!" she replied boldly, not to cause any more worry.

"Shiloh, don't ever do that again! Do you know that you could've lost your heart?" he scolded.

Shiloh made a bit of a face at him. She'd practically just saved his life. "Sora, now's not the time! First, we need to finish off this heartless!" she stated, pointing to the large creature, half reassembled with only a hand and a foot, now bounding up to them.

Sora nodded briefly, eager to ask more questions, but he had to focus on the matter at hand. The duck and dog were now fully awake, and joined the fight. They all dodged swift cyclone arm attacks, to earthquake-making feet stomps; determined to win their first battle. Finally, the armor fell to the ground in a heap, as a small, glowing, heart emerged from its torso.

--

"So, you where looking for me?" asked Sora later on, after the fight.

"And me?" Shiloh asked curiously.

"Uh-huh," the duck and dog nodded.

After the fight, Sora and Shiloh were eager to ask them why they were venturing to find them.

"They too have been seeking the wielders of the Heartscepter and Keyblade," said Leon, followed by a brief nod from Yuffie.

"Hey! Why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel!," stated the dog.

"I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi," mused Sora, lowering his head in thought.

"Maybe," agreed Shiloh, still a little wary of their offer. She too wanted to find Riku and Kairi again, but it was difficult to know who to trust. Though, the two persons didn't seem very threatening or untrustworthy.

"Of course!" the duck replied, a little too quickly.

Sora raised his head at the small sign of hope, but Shiloh looked at them weirdly, as they whispered something to each other.

"We'll find them Sora, going with them will just mabye make our journey easier," she reassured.

Leon stepped forward , speaking suddenly. "Sora, Shiloh, go with them, especially if you want to find your friends,"

"I guess," said Sora, with a melancholy voice, and a lowered head once more.

"But you can't come along looking like that, understood? No frowning, no sad face, okay?" the duck said, making faces throughout the conversation.

"Yeah! Ya gotta look funny, like us! A-hyuck!" said the dog, goofily.

"This boat runs on happy faces!" exclaimed the duck.

Shiloh cracked a tiny smile at their goofy antics, warming up to them a little.

"Happy?" questioned Sora, with a confused look.

He lowered his head in thought, then smiled a huge smile, showing teeth and all. With that, he added an equally goofy "Cheese!"

His smile faltered when at first, everyone just stared at the smiling teenager. Then, they all broke into small chuckles amongst themselves.

"That's one funny face!" exclaimed the dog.

"Okay, why not! I'll go with you guys!" said Sora. He turned to Shiloh.

"Your coming too, right Shiloh?"

"Of course," she answered, just really wanting to follow Sora around, regardless of where they went. She didn't want to be alone in this weird world again. The duck extended his hand outward.

"Donald Duck,"

"Names Goofy," said the dog, adding his hand above Donald's.

"Shiloh, pleased to meet your acquaintance," she said, politely, then stuck her hand in the fray of hands.

"I'm Sora," he announced, proudly, of course, joining his hand to the bunch as well.

"All for one, and one for all!" exclaimed Goofy.

_This is going to be a fun little excursion.._ thought Shiloh. But she couldn't help but think, in the back of her mind, that she was doing something wrong…

--POL--POL--POL--

As Sora plopped himself in the pilot's seat immediately amazed by all the gears and such, Donald was attempting to instruct him on how to steer. Shiloh took one of the seats in the back, and admired the cute inside paneling of the compact gummi ship.

She had never seen anything quite like it, and was pretty amazed that such things existed. She was also interested that she actually knew a person from another world; it was a rare treat.

The trivial chipmunks, Chip and Dale, had especially won her greatest interest, though. She felt like taking them home-- they were ADORABLE! _This is all becoming quite fun, I wish Riku and Kairi could see this, she thought. Maybe once all of this is over, they'll be able _too_… _

"Hey Shiloh! You've gotta look outside! Its amazing!" he squealed, partially ignoring Donald's instructions.

Shiloh had been too busy daydreaming with her own little thoughts, and quickly snapped completely out of her reverie. She wandered over to the window, trying to keep herself upright from the rocking of the ship, and feasted her eyes on a vast space universe.

The stars winked at her as the small ship passed them by, along with some sort of maze structures that seemed to be floating right in space.

"Wow! Your right!" she agreed. Suddenly, the small ship lurched, sending her to the ground.

"WAAAAk! Sora shoot! Shoot!" screamed Donald.

He was referring to the enemy ships, which were shooting at them, for no apparent reason.

"I'm trying!" complained Sora, trying to clear his mind with the little duck screaming in his ear.

Shiloh tried multiple times to try and stand up, but each time was thrown to the floor.

"Okay that's it!" she yelled, agitated. She jumped up, and reached to hold onto a seat, but flew back, yet again from the rocking of the ship.

She flew back, with a slight scream, because she was sure she'd hit her head this time. Goofy grabbed her, and helped her up, after catching her, though. Shiloh rubbed the back of her head, which could've had a bruise by now, if it wasn't for him.

"Thanks Goofy,"

"No problem!" he responded merrily.

Shiloh made sure to hold onto the seat this time, but by now Sora had cleared much of the passage for a smooth ride. He decided to let Donald drive the rest, to avoid being randomly attacked again. He sat in the seat next to Shiloh.

The two sat quietly in their seats for a few minutes, carefully admiring the twinkling stars outside the ship.

Sora decided to speak up at this point.

"Shiloh, um, I never asked you how you felt, after we left Traverse town,"

Shiloh shifted in her seat a little more comfortably, and replied "Oh, well, I'm okay,"

"But….you almost lost your-,"

"I know that Sora," she interrupted.

She saw Sora's eyes widen a little, and she looked straight into his eyes.

"Didn't you hear Yuffie? The Heartscepter wielder's job is to protect the keyblade wielder. And…also, it's my job as your friend to protect you."

Sora paused for a moment; he couldn't understand how she was acting like this. Didn't she realize the danger she had been in? He quickly covered up his perplexed look, with a slight nod. Shiloh still looked at him, a little sorry for saying it so boldly. _Okay next question_, thought Sora.

"And Shiloh,"

"Yes?"

"Why did you--"

"It's a world!" yelled Donald.

He didn't finish, because the halting of the ship, and Donald's voice in the background called him and Shiloh's attention.

Goofy made his way to the window, to get a look at the new world.

"Yup! That's a world all right!" he said.

Sora sighed, frustrated that every time he tried to ask _that_ question, there was always interference.

"I'll tell you later," he said, standing up.

Shiloh blinked, wondering what else he could possibly ask her, and stood up as well. She hoped Sora wasn't mad at her or anything.

"Okay," she replied.

Then the entourage departed the gummi ship, and entered the strange new world.

--POL--POL--POL--

Avoiding the question pounding at the back of her head, which was why the world was pink, and looked so heartsy, Shiloh floated down a conveniently placed hole with the others.

They seemed to float down the obscure hole, Sora, Shiloh, and Donald landing on their feet, and Goofy his stomach. Just then, a tiny, white rabbit, holding a big clock, dashed hurriedly to the hallway, perhaps leading to another room, screaming

" Oh my fur and whiskers! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm here- I should be there! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! She'll have my head for sure!"

They all just stood in bewilderment for a second, and then decided to follow the rabbit. Sora approached the door, and swung it open to reveal about three other doors. Eventually, they reached the room where the rabbit was. They briefly saw him sprint through a door, with a bright, glistening doorknob placed on it. Then, the door closed, leaving them to wonder what kind of crazy, mixed up world this was. Sora walked over to the door, and bent down to get a better look at it.

"How did he get so small?" he asked.

Suddenly, the _doorknob, _weirdly enough, said, "No, your simply too big," just like that.

The group jumped back slightly, surprised at this, until Donald exclaimed, "It talks!".

"A talking doorknob?" said Shiloh, bewildered as well.

The doorknob yawned, and lazily answered, " Must you be so loud? You woke me up!,".

"Good morning!" said Goofy.

"Good night!" replied the doorknob hastily, right after him.

Shiloh stared at the two a bit weirdly, for their strange outburst of retorts.

"I need a bit more sleep," it said, beginning to close its eyes.

"Wait! What do we have to do to grow small?" Sora asked.

"Why don't you try the bottle over there?" it said, sounding even drowsier.

Sora and Shiloh turned around to see a puff of smoke, then a convenient table with two bottles on it, where a flattened outline of a table once was. The doorknob then resumed his slumber, while they walked over to the bottles. Sora picked up one with a blue label on it.

"Wait! We don't even know what that stuff could do to us!" warned Shiloh.

"It's gonna shrink us, that's what. We have to find Riku and Kairi," answered Sora.

Shiloh sighed, she did want to find them, they'd just have to take a chance. _Lighten up! It's just a bottle of shrinking juice! Nothing really bad can happen! Relax! _Her conscience yelled at her.

She'd once again, been too caught up in her thoughts to notice that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had already shrunk themselves, and were yelling at Shiloh to drink the juice. She giggled slightly at their tiny voices, and picked up the bottle.

"Well, bottoms up!" she said, trying to lighten up, and swallowed the liquid.

A puff of smoke surrounded her, and she shrunk too. When the smoke cleared, she was staring at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Okay, everyone's here, lets-" Sora began to say, until heartless materialized in front of them.

"Heartless!" Shiloh squealed, not knowing that they dwelled in other worlds as well.

"Lets fight our way to the door!, " ordered Sora, followed by a nod from Donald and Goofy.

Shiloh noticed Sora staring at her, worriedly. "C'mon Shiloh!"

She smirked a bit crazily and grabbed his arm.

"No, you c'mon mister Keyblade master! Time for some practice!" she exclaimed, playfully pushing him forward.

--POL--POL--POL--

Chibi: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. Tee hee, everyone's still recovering from that random splurge at the beginning of the chapter. XD

Fans: JUST BE QUIET AND TYPE! (_are sharpening pieces of licorice_)

Chibi: . w-what are you doing with that licorice?

Fans: (_pokes Chibi with licorice_)

Chibi: ……Ow!

Shiloh: Delayed reaction!

Sora: (_is playing KH again_) HAHAHHAH! OH NO! KAIRI! (_cries_)

Riku: Uuhhhhhhhh, I'm bored (_throws a rock at Sora, and it gets stuck in his hair_)

Sora: What the…?

Riku Stalkers (RS): RIKU! (attacks _everything that Riku touched_)

Sora: (_is being tackled by millions of stalkers_) AAAAAAAAHHHH! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?

Riku fangirls: GET THE ROCK!

Chibii: STOP POKING ME! YOU'RE LEAVING MARKS!

Fans: MWHAHAHAH! (_poke_)

Chibi: (_smacks Fans_) Ahurm. Now then, next chappy coming soon! Pwease review! If I get a sudden splurge of reviews, I may do an extra long chappy……But If not….oh well! And, I fixed the other chapter's spelling errors and stuff, cause I felt like it. .

Fans: We're bored. (_goes to create an explosion_)


	6. Trial of Heart

Chibi: HEY THERE PEEPS! Thank you all for your kind reviews, they are greatly appreciated. You're all truly wonderful! (_gets a Moogle plushie thrown at her face_) HEY!

Shiloh: (_shifty eyes_) IT WAS SORA!

Sora: (_is still bieng tackled by Riku stalkers_) AHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!

Sora Stalkers (SS): Get off of him…Or we'll KEEL you all!

Shiloh: …uuuhh… Fine! But you owe me one! (_Hits stalkers with a wave from the Heartscepter_)

Riku Stalkers (SS): (_are thrown into some random pit_) NOO! Riku, we've…failed you…(_dies_)

Sora: Thanks! Could you help me up?

Owen: Shiloh, don't you wanna see the new clothes I bought you? Along with the pizza?

Shiloh: NEW CLOTHES?! PIZZA!? (_eye twitch_) (_drops Sora_)

Sora: Heeeey! GET BACK HERE!

Chibi: Shopping, every girl's weakness (_eating chocolate_)

Kawaii Tokyo angel: I HEARD THAT SISTAH! (_tackles Shiloh for new clothes_)

Fans: (_are looking at Moogle plushie_) I wonder how much this would sell for on Ebay?

(_maniacal laughter is heard_)

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't owns Kingdom Hearts, or anything associated with it, but I do own Shiloh, the heartscepter, and my obsession with shopping! (_looks in wallet to find that she is undoubtedly broke_)

--POL--POL--POL--

**C**hapter 6- **T**rial of **H**eart

The party was slashing at heartless left and right, diminishing each of their threats toward them. Seeing a heartless shaped like a green pot, Shiloh swiftly swiped at it, eager to equal the fighting pace with her comrades. They too were destroying the heartless, and trying to the clear the pathway towards the doorknob. When all the heartless were gone, Sora leaned forward, tiredly.

"Whew," he said, wiping his brow. " So many heartless!"

Shiloh patted him on his back, while tiredly exhaling as well.

"Not bad, Keyblade master," she complemented. Sora brightly smiled at her, happy for the complement. "Not bad yourself, Heartscepter weirlder,"

"Uh, guys," began Goofy.

"What's wrong?"

"Look," he said, while pointing to where the rabbit had ran. The tiny blue door had been blocked by a huge bed, or at least it looked huge. Shiloh's eyes widened at the sight—they seemed to have made a stupid mistake. They forgot to push the bed out of the way, before shrinking themselves, but in the haste to explore their new world, it seemed they'd forgotten.

"What are we gonna do now?" questioned Donald, quite irritated.

Shiloh turned to Sora, with a questioning look. "Sora?".

Sora was staring at the humongous bed, thinking of how they would fix this. He felt it _was_ his job, since he was the keyblade master and all.

They all stood there helplessly for a good five minutes, until Donald asked, "Sora, Are you there?" He'd just been standing there all the while. _Maybe he's thinking..._ Shiloh thought, but it was taking awfully long.

Finally, he woke up from his "brainstorm" and said, "Okay guys, I have an idea,"

"Took you long enough," muttered Donald, lowly.

Sora ignored the comment and continued "Let's all climb under the bed, then, we'll go into the blue door from there,"

"It took you five minutes to think of THAT?!" yelled Donald. Apparently the plan didn't appeal to the duck.

Sora shrugged, and pointed to his head. "What can I say? I'm an intensive thinker,"

"Okay, 'intensive thinker', lets get going!" said Shiloh, tired of waiting.

She began to walk ahead, with Goofy right behind her. Donald and Sora followed as well, and decided to continue their comment conversation later.

Once they reached the foot of the bed, Shiloh peered down on the trivial opening for them to crawl under.

"Hmm… Are you sure we'll fit?," she asked, looking at Sora.

"Not positive, but lets try anyway," he said, rather quickly.

Shiloh smiled-- _always so positive… _she thought.

Sora was the first to attempt to squeeze under the bed. He managed to get his whole torso, and legs in, but we were having a bit of difficulty with the shoes. As a result, Donald, Goofy, and Shiloh were trying to shove the bright, yellow, things under.

"If you didn't wear such big shoes we wouldn't have this!," she said, while using the palm of her hand to push the heel in. Sora replied stubbornly, but she couldn't make out what he said, since he was halfway under the bed.

Finally, after countless pushes and shoves, they had gotten Sora's shoes to fit under it, and Shiloh was next to climb under. She sighed, the thought of climbing under the tight underside of a bed, on the dirty floor didn't really appeal to her; but she wanted to find her friends.

She lay on her stomach, and slowly slid under the bed. She could hear Sora, who had slid about halfway across the bed, toward the door, screaming "I'm almost there!"

She certainly didn't want to be stuck under there forever, so she tried to inch her way toward Sora's direction as well. It was quite irritating, with her chin hitting the hard floor, because she couldn't stand. She heard Goofy and Donald behind her, making equal progress, and she didn't want to slow them down, so she tried to inch faster.

When she saw a small light, and didn't hear Sora, she knew she was close to the opening. As she slid over to it, she stuck her hands out, to completely slide out. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hands, and rapidly slide her out fully. _Sora_ then lifted her up by her hands and asked "You okay?"

She gave him a bit of an irritated look. Why did he always have to ask her that? I mean, they _were_ on a perilous adventure, but she wanted him to lighten up.

"Sora, please, I 'm fine," she replied, hastily wiping dust off of her miniskirt.

He seemed to sense her attitude, and said "Hey, I'm sorry okay? It's just…"

"That's quite enough. If we're going to bicker, we should do it later," she said, interrupting him.

"We're not bickering, I'm just saying something,"

"Sora, I said not now," she said, stepping away from him a little.

He muttered something, and turned away from me. _Now he's mad, what a stupid and pointless argument... I just want to prove that I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself… _Shiloh thought.

_I don't get why she gets so angry, It's just, I don't want her to get hurt...but I guess climbing under a bed isn't really hazardous... _Sora thought. Goofy and Donald emerged from under the bed to see the two teens not facing each other.

"Um, guys?" asked Donald.

They turned to face him, and then noticed they'd made it from under the bed as well; it was time to go. Placing their argument aside, Shiloh and Sora turned to face the blue door, and entered.

--POL--POL--POL--

As they walked into the room, they saw cards, standing cards, lined up in front of us. The _cards_ had the appearance of sentinels, with their long spears and axes clasped in their hands. A small, blonde, girl, downing a puffy light blue dress, was standing on a wooden pedestal, much like a court's, in front of an even larger one.

A rather morose looking queen sat at the top, twirling a small rod with a heart on top. The bunny they'd seen earlier was running up some steps to a pedestal of his own. Once he reached the top, he panted for one second--then lifted up the shiny trumpet he was holding, and blew it.

"Court is now in session!" he yelled. The girl small girl turned to look up at the rabbit, a look of disdain in her eyes.

"I'm on trial? But why?"

Ignoring the girl, the rabbit announced "Her majesty, the queen of hearts presiding!"

"This girl is the culprit, there's no doubt about it!" the queen said. "And the reason is.. .Because I say so, that's why!"

"That is so unfair!" protested the young girl.

_This queen doesn't sound too nice…_ thought Shiloh.

"Well, have you anything to say, in your defense?" she questioned.

"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be the queen…But I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean!" said the girl.

"SILENCE! You dare defy me?!" yelled the queen, making Shiloh flinch just a little.

"Hey guys, we should help her out," suggested Sora.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in that type of situation," said Shiloh.

"Yeah, but, uhh," started Donald.

"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" said Goofy.

"Meddling!" corrected Donald.

"Oh, yeah, and that's against the rules,"

Sora cocked his head, a little confused. Shiloh once again looked upon the court session in the new world.

"The court finds the defendant… guilty as charged!" yelled the queen. "For the crimes of assault, and attempted theft of my heart,"

"You mean, the heartless?" said Shiloh, and looked toward Sora, who gasped.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" she yelled, and the cards turned towards her, raising their axes and spears menacingly.

"No, no! Oh please!" she pleaded.

"Hold it right there!" interjected Sora, running forward.

_I knew he would do __something__ about it _Shiloh thought, knowingly, as she chased after him.

"Who are you? How dare you interrupt my court!" the queen fumed.

"Excuse me, but we know who the real culprit is!" said Sora.

"It's the Heartle-," Shiloh started, followed by her mouth being covered by Goofy.

"Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for," Sora continued.

"Nonsense… Have you any proof?" she asked. Sora paused at this, because we had no proof. They locked the girl in the cage, as the queen said "Bring me evidence, to prove your point,". She pointed to a small opening at the side of the courtyard, leading to… somewhere.

Goofy removed his hand from Shiloh's mouth, and she brushed some hair behind her ear, embarrassed.

"Um, sorry, I forgot that we're not supposed to mention the heartless," she said.

"That's okay," said Goofy.

"Hey, let's go see that girl," suggested Sora.

"Yeah," they agreed.

They ran up to the yellow cage, in which she was being held captive, and she said "Oh thank you very much! I'm Alice,"

"I'm Sora, and these are my friends Shiloh, Donald, and Goofy," he said, introducing them.

"Thank you for your help! I fell down the rabbit hole, and landed here, and that queen convicted me of those crimes," she continued.

"We'll try to set you free," said Shiloh.

Before anyone could say anything else, the card that was standing next to the cage thrust a spear in front of them, shrilly saying "No speaking with the defendant!"

"You guys should learn some manners!" corrected Shiloh, glaring at the guard.

"C'mon Shiloh," said Sora, dragging her off by the arm. Once they reached the small opening, they entered, to collect their evidence.

--POL--POL--POL--

Chibi: Yeah! That's chappy six! There's another update right after this one, and then another on St.Patricks day! Sorry for the shortness of this one!

Shiloh: (_sobs_)

Chibi: What's wrong with you?

Shiloh: The evil fans sold my Moogle plushie on Ebay! (sobs again)

Fans: And we only got 1.75!

Shiloh: (_glares daggers at Fans_)

Sora: I've decided to give up playing KH, I'll just watch it on Youtube!

Riku: I'll give him 5 minutes.

Jeff: I'll give him 2 seconds.

Sora: WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO- (_eye twitch_) …Must…play…KH (_tackles PS2_)

Chibi: That's all for now folks! Next chappy is coming VERY soon!


	7. A Strange Situation

chibihachi: Well, here's chappy 7

Chibi: Well, here's chappy 7! Enjoy! I feel I haven't been updating that much, so that's why I updated earlier DON'T KILL ME! (_hides_)

Fans: Awww, (_puts down sharp licorice sticks_)

Chibi: o.0 …You have made me paranoid of licorice.

Shiloh: Hi guys! We're back from the candy store!

Sora: I GOT LICORICE!

Chibi: AHHH! GET IT AWAY! (_runs away_)

Riku: This lollipop's flavor is strawberry XD (_eats the lollipop all slow_)

Riku Stalkers (RS): (_are drooling profusely_) Obtain everything strawberry! (_tackles Chibi's lipgloss_)

Chibii: GET OFF MY LIPGLOSS YOU FOOLS!

Sora: Licorice…

Chibi: WAAAH! (_runs away_)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or anything associated with it, but I own Shiloh, and anything associated with her, that's not associated with Kingdom Hearts. (_sighs_) Well, that was simply put, wasn't it?

--POL--POL--POL--

_C_hapter **7**- A _S_trange _S_ituation

Sora, Shiloh, Donald, and Goofy, entered the doorway in the wall, to walk into a large forest. It was lined with colorful, lotus leaves, beautiful flowers, and cut short tree stumps. Sora heard a loud thumping noise, and turned around to find the source.

Shiloh looked straight ahead, expecting something to happen at any moment. Suddenly, a purple, smiling, head bobbed in midair, right in front of them. Sora stepped back in surprise, while Shiloh let out a startled yelp. It appeared in various places above their heads a couple of times, then it finally landed on one of the tree stumps; the body standing on top of the head.

_This place just gets weirder and weirder, _thought Shiloh, gazing at the cat. It put its' head back on, and said, "You want to find the evidence? Look high, but low," it said, then disappeared.

"Look high but low?" repeated Shiloh, cocking her head to the side.

"I think this is what he means," said Sora, picking up a small, pink box that was placed to the side. He opened it, to reveal some black footprints, imprinted inside the box.

"It's evidence!" exclaimed Donald.

"Let's look above now," suggested Shiloh. Sora nodded, and the party looked up, towards some high lily pads that were suspended by the trees.

--POL--POL--POL--

Hoisting herself up on another lily pad, Shiloh peered down at her comrades. Sora was hanging onto the lily pad, his legs dangling over the edge. So far, this was the gang's second clue to find.

"Sora, let me help you," she said, extending a hand.

"It's okay, I've got it," he replied, struggling to hang on. Regardless, Shiloh grabbed his hand, before he fell off, and pulled him up.

"Shiloh, c'mon!" protested Sora, as she completely helped him up.

"Sora, what are you trying to prove?" she asked.

"That I don't need your help every single time," he said quickly, without thinking.

A surprised look came over Shiloh's face, but she quickly covered it up by looking away. Sora realized what he had said, and how he had said it, and he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, that's not what I meant..," he started.

"No, I understand, I shouldn't be so…" she turned to face him, her face inches from his. "Overprotective,"

Before Sora could reply, she stormed over to the pink box, picked it up, and walked over to the edge without opening it. Sora and she had been having a lot of squabbles lately, but what was the real reason?

Shiloh didn't exactly know why, but she did know, that she didn't want to even speak with Sora, at least until they got on the Gummi ship. As she jumped off, to meet up with Donald and Goofy, Sora sighed, muttering to himself, "What a mess,"

--POL--POL--POL--

Once all the viatl evidence was collected, everyone went in front of the queen, to present the evidence.

"We have the evidence," stated Sora.

"Your evidence? Hmm…" the queen said. With a wave of her staff, a card immediately ran over to the two pink boxes on the floor, and added three more to the pile.

"Hey! What are you doing, we got the evidence!" clarified Shiloh.

The queen glared at the young girl, "My evidence will be present as well! You choose the box with the right evidence, and the girl will go free," she said.

Shiloh looked towards Sora, even though she was still a little angry with him. He walked over to the row of boxes, and stared intently at them. _Looks like its intensive thinking time again, but I hope he chooses the right one _thought Shiloh. He looked from the boxes on the right, to the boxes on the left, and then walked up to the one in the middle.

Shiloh held her breath, as Sora took the lid off of the box. Surprisingly, a heartless jumped out, and ran into the depths of Lotus Forest. Sora looked at the queen, confidence in his eyes. She made what sounded like a low growl, and raised her tiny rod again. This time, all wooden pedestals, but the queen's, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

One of the cards was spinning a metal crank, from a tower that appeared in the middle of the courtyard. They all jumped in unison, at Sora and Shiloh. Donald and Goofy were hastily thrown in one of the cages.

Shiloh swung her Heartscepter, to release a white beam of light, at the cards. Sora was almost buried under a huge pile of spade cards, and she desperately wanted to help him. She was angry with him, but he was still her very close friend.

A red hearts card came gliding out of nowhere, and knocked her to the ground with it's thin body. She cursed at it, and tried to attack again, but was instantly pinned down by another card. _Theres no way I'm gonna lose!,_ thought Shiloh. She didn't want to be a weak link in the team; she had to prove herself.

Managing to flip a card over on its side, with her foot, she narrowly escaped an axe slicing her arm. Once she crawled out of the pile of cards, she jumped up, and bumped headfirst into Sora. Rubbing her head, she pointed to the tower, which was being guarded by cards.

"Let's take them down Shiloh," said Sora, eyeing them.

"Yeah," she agreed.

Sora and she ran into the entourage of cards, and swung their weapons at an equal pace. The cards responded by trying to blockade the tower, so they wouldn't reach it. Shiloh, getting an idea, jumped onto of the cards' heads. Sora caught her drift, and jumped up as well. Getting in a few hits with the Hearscepter, Shiloh's foot got pulled from under her, by one of the cards. Before falling, she yelled "Here Sora!" tossing him the Heartscepter.

He grabbed it, and hit the crank tower with everything he had, with both weapons. Shiloh hit the ground, hard, and remained at the feet of the scrambling cards. Just then, the crank tower disappeared, and the cards expressions were struck with dismay. They quickly ran over to their queen, for protection of sorts. Sora, having defeated the crank tower, kneeled by Shiloh, who was smiling up a storm.

"That was awesome!" she exclaimed, quite excited.

"Yeah, it was!" said Sora, equally amazed.

With the crank tower destroyed, they stood up, and quickly realized that Alice was still trapped in the cage. They rushed over to it, only to see it drop down with no one in it.

--POL--POL--POL--

Unfortunately, there would be no trial without a defendant, so Sora and entourage headed towards Lotus Forest to search for the poor girl. Having been separated from Donald and Goofy during the last battle, Sora and Shiloh were in need of a healing spell.

"It's a good thing I'm here," said Donald, proudly, as he cast the green aura of swirling magic over them.

"Yeah, thanks," said Sora, a bit sarcastically.

Shiloh sighed, and crossed her arms. "So, we're to look for Alice right? But, where to look?" she asked.

"Well…" Sora started to say, but just then, the smiling cat made his appearance once more. It stood on his head, much like before, and smiled endlessly at them.

"What riddle do you have for us now?," asked Shiloh. He seemed to appear whenever an ordeal seemed confusing, like a riddle.

"You're looking for Alice? She's not here, she's in the dark, so find the light. Oh, and one more thing, move one thing to get to another," it said, disappearing afterwards.

"What does he mean now?" asked Sora, tiredly.

"Hmm, lights..," said Shiloh, in thought.

Suddenly, A gigantic boulder, in the rear of the forest, moved aside, revealing a hidden exit in the forest.

"Whoa, It's really big," said Goofy.

Shiloh backed up to get a better view of the problem, and instead backed into a scarlet rose, just about her size, behind her. She turned around, thinking it was a heartless, and accidentally scorched it with her light magic from her staff. The plant bobbed lazily in response.

"Oops," squeaked Shiloh.

Sora walked over to her, wondering what she just did.

"Anyway, what should we do? Should we go back to the room after the rabbit hole, and take that potion again?" he asked.

"No, then we wouldn't be able to come back here," responded Shiloh.

"Use your intensive thinking!" yelled Donald to Sora, thoughtfully.

Sora shot him a blank look, and turned to Shiloh. She was leaning close to the rose she just bumped into.

"Um, Shiloh, what are you doing?" Sora asked.

She motioned with her hands for him to come close to her. As he stepped forward, he heard the flower whisper _Give me a potion_. He stepped back and asked "Did that plant just talk?"

"Yes it did. But hey, it asked for a potion-- let's give it one," suggested Shiloh, as weird as that sounded.

She obviously didn't usually talk to flowers, but she'd gotten used the strange antics of this world. Sora shrugged, and dug in his pocket for the few potions Leon had given him, before he left Traverse town.

He pulled one out, and pulled the cork on the top, to see the green swirling magic descend upon the flower. _Thanks, _It replied. Shiloh felt a little bad that she had zapped the plant, but really, it was just a plant. Suddenly, Sora began to grow larger, back to the size he was before he drank the potion.

"Well, this is…strange," said Sora, looking at himself.

"This place is the DEFINITION of strange," said Shiloh.

"Didn't he say, move one thing to get to another?" asked Goofy.

"Oh yeah!" remembered Shiloh.

"I'm on it," said Sora, pushing the boulder into the pond.

"And you pushed it into the pond,because…?" asked Shiloh.

Once again, he pointed to his head, and said "Sora intuition,"

As a result of him pushing the boulder, two lily pads appeared up top in the trees', which lead to another exit.

"Okay, I've done that, but how do I shrink back?" asked Sora.

Shiloh sighed, and crossed her arms once more. This place was really making her think more than usual.

"How bout' you try eatin' that there acorn?" suggested Goofy, pointing to a brown object on one of the lily pads.

"An acorn?" Sora asked, making his way over to the lily pad.

"Just try it, It just might work," said Donald.

Sora picked up the acorn, popped it in his mouth, and instantly shrank back down to tiny size.

"Wow, you're just full of ideas today Goofy," said Donald.

"Yeah, good job!" complemented Shiloh, as Goofy beamed.

"OK, so now, let's go through that back exit," said Sora, as he pointed to it.

"And where will that take us?," asked Donald.

"How do we know its safe?," asked Goofy.

Sora began to make his, intuition speech again, but Shiloh quickly cut him off. "Oh no, not that again," she said, while dragging him over towards their destination.

--POL--POL--POL--

The characters emerged from Lotus Forest, onto the wall of the strange room they'd come into, or the Bizarre Room. There was a fireplace beneath the wall, and a small gush of water poured into a gold bucket on the floor.

"Oh my gosh," said Shiloh, feeling dizzy.

"What is it?" asked Sora, grabbing her arm.

"We're so high up!"

"Are you afraid of heights?,"

"Well, yeah," she admitted.

Heights didn't really appeal to her that much; they made her feel dizzy, and uncomfortable. What didn't help was that several hordes of heartless now began to appear.

"Oh great," Shiloh complained, backing up. She was thinking about just jumping off; that would solve the problem, but she'd have to pray she wouldn't break anything. Before she could really decide though, Sora backed up in front of her, pinning her against the wall.

It was actually kind of awkward being in this position, with Sora's back on her chest.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked.

"Just stay like that, If you try to fight, you'll surely fall off, am I right?," he asked, while giving a small swing of the Keyblade to on coming heartless.

"Probably…But, that's not fair to you," she said, starting to blush a little.

Sora didn't really respond to this, he simply turned around, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Apparently, a heartless had knocked the Keyblade out of his hand. An oncoming heartless leapt at the chance of his enemy being defenseless.

"Sora! What are you doing?!" she yelled, as the heartless continued to charge._ Oh crap, now Sora's going to get hurt because of my stupid phobia,_ she thought, becoming scared for her friend. Suddenly, a jolt of thunder obliterated the heartless coming for Sora.

They looked toward the source of the blast, whom was Donald, and watched as he destroyed even more heartless.

Donald and Goofy where now fighting the rest of the remaining heartless. Sora let go of Shiloh briefly to ask her "Are you alright?".

Normally, she would have gotten angry again, but right now, she was just glad that Sora didn't lose his heart. She drew in a sharp breath, then wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, just please don't do anything like that again," she said.

Sora, surprised, just stared at her, then finally, returned the embrace. "Well, I'm sorry too,"

They stayed like this for a good five minutes, until Donald and Goofy spoke up.

"Um, guys, I hate to break it to yah, but-," Donald began.

Realizing that they still had a mission to accomplish, Sora and Shiloh quickly parted, their cheeks flushed from blushing.

"Right, right, sorry guys," said Sora, summoning his Keyblade back.

Suddenly, the cat appeared once more, standing on the wall as well. It was still grinning, like always, just like a Cheshire….

"Very good, I noticed the two of you had been fighting, ever since you came. Now that you've stopped, there's no one to blame. And now that you earned it well, and is acting very nice, I shall grant you the power of ice!" said the Cheshire cat, motioning to Sora every now and then.

A blue beam of light shone upon the cat's fingertip, and slowly descended to Sora's level. With that, it disappeared once more.

"Good job Keyblade master! You learned the Blizzard spell!" congratulated Donald.

"Thanks," replied Sora, happily. "But how do I use it?"

Shiloh smiled, _So the cat must've been testing Sora and I's friendship ever since we came_ she thought.

Sora looked around the room, and instructed "Okay, Let's solve this riddle! Shiloh, can you please turn bigger, to search above ground?"

"Sure," she replied.

"Good, we'll search down here," he said.

Shiloh nodded, and ran over to the edge. Gripping the side, she slowly slid down, and ran towards the table. Sora started to scan the room for anything that would solve the riddle. He figured they could start by just moving random things, or adjusting them, in order to find a clue. He walked over to the tiny waterfall, falling into the pot.

He set his eyes on the faucet above it. Running and jumping next to it, he grabbed the faucet, and turned it. At the same time, he heard a small _poof_, from the other side of the room. He turned to see Shiloh point to another small opening. He sighed, and made his way over with Donald and Goofy; when would it ever end?

--POL--POL--POL--

The friends entered the new room with caution, only to find a long table, lined with teacups.

"A tea party?" asked Shiloh, picking up one of the tea cups in her hand.

"Strange," said Sora. "But we can't stay, we need to solve the riddle,"

"Yeah, Alice must be really scared," said Shiloh.

So, they exited the house that was next to the tea party setup.

--POL--POL--POL--

As they entered the new side of the Bizarre room, the Cheshire cat appeared once more.

"Light the lamps," it ordered, and disappeared.

"Short and sweet this time," said Shiloh, as Sora peered over at the unlit lamps.

"I'll take the one on the left, Donald, take the one on the right," said Sora.

Donald nodded, and immediately aimed his staff at the lamps. Sora ran near the other one, and stayed just the right distance for him to fire. At the same time, both of them fired the fire spells, hitting the lamps and igniting them instantly.

"Got it!" exclaimed Sora.

Shiloh turned to the side of her to see a gray latch. Curiously, she pulled the latch to reveal even another door.

"Uh, guys, I found _another_ door," said Shiloh.

They turned, to see the new pathway emerge, and ran through it.

--POL--POL--POL--

_This time_, the group appeared in the courtyard once more, except this time, they stood on a high, hidden ledge.

"Maybe we should go back to the Bizzare room," suggested Goofy.

"Yeah, there's not much to do here," Shiloh said.

"I have a feeling another heartless fight's coming up! Be prepared guys!" instructed Sora.

Shiloh looked at him, and was about to ask how he had that feeling, and his eyes met with hers.

"Sora intuition?" asked Shiloh, smiling, and running toward the Bizzare room.

"Sora intuition," he clarified, doing the same.

When they reached the room, It was actually perfectly placed. No upside down walls, or items; just the Chesire cat, sitting on top of the table, and grinning. They made their way up towards it, then it stopped when it stated,

"Are you prepared? Well, you best prepare for the worst!", while motioning to something rising up behind him.

A Heartless with about 5 stacked heads, a skinny, paper body, and juggling sticks in each hand, did somersaults across the room. As it flew over them, Sora and Shiloh looked on in awe at their new heartless boss.

It finally landed a little distance from them, completely straightening out, and facing them. Sora grabbed Shiloh's hand, and briefly whispered, "Hey Shiloh, make sure you be careful,"

--POL--POL--POL--

Chibi: So, yes that's chapter seven, I'm sorry I had to end it this way. I'm currently typing chapter 8, because it's my favorite! Also, thanks for the reviews! You guys are great! Oh, and happy St. Patrick's Day to anyone! (_hands out shamrock shaped cookies_)

Shiloh: (_snore_)

Chibi: o.o Why are you sleeping? Shouldn't you be listening to me?

Sora: (_is chewing on licorice_)

Chibi:…Do you live to terrorize me Sora?

Sora: (_mouth is stuffed with licorice_) Waah?

Shiloh: (snores loudly again)

Riku: (_Is still eating lollipop_)

Chibi: You know what? I just can't deal with you people, I'M LEAVIN! (_leaves_)

Shiloh: Is she gone? YAY! DANCE PARTY!

(_confetti pours from the ceiling as random people dance to 'Caramell Dansen'_)


	8. Reunion

Chibii: Sorry If I confused you with my updating spree, it's been a bit wild lately

Chibii: Sorry If I confused you with my updating spree, it's been a bit wild lately. Oh, and the deviant art picture of Shiloh is coming up soon. My main usernames are on my profile. And Y'know, I just realized that I said I'd be doing Sane Authoress notes, but nothing really sane has been said really…But anyway, thank you everyone for their reviews! They seemed to like all of Sora's thinking moments in the last two chappies…

Sora: (_cheesy smile_) SORA INTUITION!

Shiloh: (_groans_)

Sora Stalkers (SS): EEEEEK! (_writes the phrase down_)

Chibi: My ears… My precious, precious ears…(_faints_)

Riku: (_is still eating the strawberry flavored lollipop and reading a magazine_)

Sora: SORA INTUITION!

Shiloh: Sora, please, I have a headache.

Sora: INTENSIVE THINKING!

Shiloh: I'm warning you…

Sora: SORA IN-

Shiloh: SHUT UP! (_tackles Sora_)

**Disclaimer**: I don't owns anything but Shiloh, the Heartscepter, and all that good stuff. (_smile_)

--

_C_hapter 8-**Reunion**

Sora, dodge rolling skillfully, narrowly dodged a blazing juggling stick igniting his clothes. The cunning heartless, given the name the Trickmaster, bent down low, and swiftly swept its' gangling arm across the floor; blazing juggling sticks in hand.

Shiloh jumped right above the flaming stick, and threw a blast of light energy its way. With a continues flick of his staff, Donald tried to strike the lighted juggling sticks with a freezing Blizzard spell.

The Trickmaster reacted by wildly swinging its sticks to and fro, so they wouldn't be extinguished. Goofy wisely made his way on to the Bizarre room's table, and jumped from there to unleash a flurry of shield bashes upon the Trickmaster.

Eventually, it bent its unusually long legs, and lay defenseless, for a moment's reprieve. Sora took this opportunity to jump, and deliver blows to its five heads, and torso. Donald and Goofy attacked as well, at an equal pace, but Shiloh stayed put, trying to figure out how to defeat this enemy. Recently, unbeknownst to herself, she'd been getting partially stronger in her attacks, and she somehow learned the ability to tell how strong any heart was.

She knew this heart, corrupted by darkness, was already strong, but it had a weak point… She looked up out of her thoughts though, when she heard Sora yelp in pain, probably from being hit.

Nevertheless, the Trickmaster awoke from its rest, and once more began swiping at the heroes with its weapons. It knocked Donald and Goofy down immediately, with only a couple of blows, and started to go towards Sora and Shiloh.

She did the unthinkable. S

he jumped up, timing it perfectly, and landed on the Trickmaster's arm. She jumped again from there, elevated by the Trickmaster's arm, and pointed the Heartscepter straight at it chest. A bright beam immediately shot out, going straight through the Trickmaster's torso.

It staggered from the direct hit, and almost dropped the flaming pins, but it wasn't over yet. Angered, the Trickmaster gave a nasty flick of its arm, sending Shiloh to fall backwards, from that great height. As she helplessly screamed, and fell, with the Trickmaster's pins heading straight for her, Sora ran as fast as he could, over to the scene, but there wasn't much he could do.

Donald stood up, and aimed his staff between Shiloh and the pins. The Blizzard spell came right in between them. The shield of cold magic protected Shiloh from getting hit, but the impact of the collision of the two magic spells created a small blast. It made her fly backwards again, and she closed her eyes to prepare for impact. She landed hard, on her back, hitting her head on the marble floor.

Her Heartscepter flew out of her hand, and skated across the floor, as she lay gripping her aching side with her bangs strewn over her face. The Heartscepter skid right in front of Sora--he stared at his friend, and stopped breathing for a split second.

The Trickmaster still wasn't finished; it needed to completely destroy its enemy. It bent over the defenseless Shiloh, who was attempting to stand up, and prepared to hit her again with the fiery juggling sticks.

Sora, without thinking twice, ran as fast as he could over to the scene. He could hear Donald and Goofy scream his name, but he didn't turn around, he had to save her. He jumped right in front of Shiloh, Keyblade set.

The fiery pins headed straight for him now. He was so close to them, he could feel the fire almost singe his cheeks. Regardless, he concentrated his magic power, and cast a wide Blizzard spell.

The spell met with the pins, extinguishing them immediately. The Trickmaster looked at its blown out pins, in defeat, and received the final blow from the Keyblade master. It straightened out; its long arms now limp, as its corrupted heart arose from its torso. Sora turned around, worriedly, and knelt down next to Shiloh. He held out his hand, and helped her up, asking, "Are you all right?"

She stood up, amazed that Sora had come to her defense so quickly, and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine,"

The pain on her side had subsided, just a little, but her back still throbbed a bit from landing so hard on it.

"I don't think I have to tell you how close that was," he stated, seeming very freaked out.

Shiloh looked down at her feet and sighed, then looked up at Sora. "Well, It's a good thing you're here with me then, right?"

His freaked-out expression quickly turned to one of surprise, then embarrassment to hide his blushing face. "Um, yeah, I guess so,"

Shiloh summoned her Heartscepter back, and brushed the dirt off of her attire.

As Donald and Goofy ran up to Sora and Shiloh, they heard a yawn from behind them. Sora turned towards it to see the shiny doorknob they'd seen when they first came to Wonderland.

"What a racket," it complained. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"

It yawned the loudest yawn they'd ever heard, and its mouth opened so wide, they saw a tiny keyhole shining in its mouth. It began to shine very brightly, as the group stared at this new phenomenon in wonder.

The Keyblade, which rested in Sora's clenched hands, lifted itself up, and pointed itself toward the shining keyhole. Sora let out a startled cry at this, as the Keyblade's gleaming beam met with the keyhole. A small click was heard, as the doorknob proceeded to close its mouth. Sora stepped back, and took a look at the Keyblade.

"It locked something, but what?" he asked.

"The world's keyhole!" said Shiloh.

They turned to her. "How do you know?" asked Donald.

She shrugged, saying "Lucky guess, It's called the Keyblade right?"

"Well, we should go to back to the Gummi ship, to look for another world," suggested Donald.

"We still didn't find Riku or Kairi," said Sora, a little discouraged.

Shiloh lowered her eyes. She was beginning to doubt the fact that they were anywhere, but there were many other worlds right? Then she remembered that Sora was beginning to doubt himself as well, and that couldn't happen.

"Sora, we'll find them," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He smiled in response, and nodded. With that, they started to walk back to the rabbit hole entrance. Shiloh walked right beside Sora, and couldn't help but notice the keyblade master grip his arm tightly. Concerned, she walked in front of him, and asked "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered, turning away from her.

"Sora, lemme see," she insisted, tugging on his shoulder.

"No, I'm fine,"

"Then why are you holding your arm?"

"It's nothing,"

"Please?"

"No thanks,"

Shiloh tugged even harder on Sora's shoulder, forcing him to face her, while Donald and Goofy stopped walking to see what all the commotion was about. She stuck out her bottom lip, while softening her eyes, and puffing out her cheeks.

"Aww, c'mon Shiloh, not the puppy eyes," stated Sora, trying to look away. She kept the same face, and started to make her bottom lip quiver.

"Fine…I just got a little burned, that's all," he admitted, taking his hand away from the area. He revealed the burn mark, and it looked a bit red and inflamed. Shiloh gasped, switching her expression from her puppy eyes, to a look of concern.

"Oh geeze Sora, why didn't you tell me sooner? We've got to get this cleaned up right away!" she exclaimed, leading him forward.

--POL--POL--POL--

Pouring cold water over it, Shiloh handled Sora's injured arm with care. As soon as they'd entered the Gummi ship, to venture to their new world, Shiloh rushed to get the proper necessities to treat the casualty. Donald skillfully piloted the ship over the enemy heartless ships, as to not cause any severe turbulence during this flight.

"How does running cold water help?" asked Sora, puzzled at Shiloh's ways.

"Cooling the burn reduces swelling by conducting the heat away from the skin," she answered. She smiled brightly at Sora. "My foster mom taught it to me,"

He nodded, as she poured the last of the water over it. It felt kind of satisfying, having Shiloh near him, all to himself… He figured this would be a good time to ask Shiloh all those questions he wanted to ask her, so he began.

"Um, Shiloh?"

"Yes?" she said, now beginning to loosely wrap the burn with a sterile gauze.

"When we were on the island, before we left, why did you choose to go with Riku instead of me?"

Shiloh's body seemed to freeze immediately, startled by this sudden question. She really didn't know exactly why she went with Riku; it'd been purely on instinct. Sora wouldn't mind if she said that would he? But still, it was pretty awkward to feel his eyes boring into the front of her face, while she tried to think.

"Shiloh," asked Sora, wondering why she was taking so long. She immediately snapped out of it, and continued to wrap the gauze around his arm.

"Well, um, I guess I just thought that I should go with Riku…I mean, actually, I was just with him at the time, and I didn't really know what was going on," she said.

She knew that wasn't 100 percent true, though, she knew the island would be besieged by the Heartless, but what she didn't know, was who to exactly go with, or turn to.

"But, you were trying to get away from me, when I found you," said Sora, with hurt in his voice.

Shiloh swallowed hard, she couldn't remember the real reason why she was running away from Sora. Was she? She was so confused, why where all these things bothering her now? _Maybe I hit my head, that's why I can't remember.._ she thought, trying to think of a reasonable explanation. She quickly finished wrapping his arm, stood up, and began to back away from Sora, so she could fully see his expression.

"Do…do you feel insecure around me? Like, I can't protect you?" he asked, looking her straight in the eye.

"N-no, I just," she started. "I-I didn't know what was going on! I didn't know anything! It's not that I don't trust you, or feel insecure around you,"

"Then why did you go with Riku? And why do you worry about me so much?," said Sora, standing up. He wanted a definite answer from her-- he needed to know the reasons why.

"N-no, I just…I told you I don't know why I went with Riku, and I worry about you because..," Shiloh started. "You're my best friend, and…we already lost Riku and Kairi, I don't want to lose you too,"

Sora's expression softened, as he saw the uncertainty and sadness in Shiloh's features. He walked up to her, but she kept her head bowed, as tears ran down her cheeks. She felt horrible, she didn't have the right to make Sora feel that way, not after all they'd been through; she didn't even know he felt that way. S

ora dug inside his pocket, and pulled out a tiny trinket. It was identical to the one Shiloh had, a bauble with many golden stars hanging down from it. Shiloh looked up, to see him holding their treasured item.

"Remember our promise?" Sora said softly.

Shiloh unclipped the trinket from her bikini top, and held it up as well, still not lifting up her head. Sora placed his hand under her chin, and carefully lifted it up, making her green and yellow eyes meet his ocean blue ones.

"We've got to keep it, no matter what," he said.

She nodded, clenching it in her hand, tightly. Once again, the ship lurched backward, sending Shiloh and Sora off balance. He quickly grabbed her waist, to stop her from falling, while she gripped onto his shoulders for support.

As soon as the ship stopped, and Donald began to mouth his apologies, Sora and Shiloh stood still in the awkward position they were in. Why did this always seem to happen to them? Shiloh blushed the deepest red Sora had ever seen, as he set her on her feet. She smiled brightly, to try to hide her blushing, and said "Thank you, Sora,"

He smiled, reddened from blushing as well, It seemed that only the very beginning of the journey was making them closer, and replied " Oh, and Shiloh. You're my best friend too,"

--POL--POL--POL--

After exiting the gummi ship, Sora, Shiloh, Donald, and Goofy walked into the new world, only to find golden sand beneath their feet. They walked even further, to set their eyes on an immense effigy of two guards standing above two stone pillars.

Their arms were outstretched in holding bronze swords across each other's chests. In the middle, were concrete steps, which lead to a door with lightening shaped inscriptions on it, surrounded by staggering stone pillars.

"Wow, look at this world," said Shiloh, as they walked toward the entrance.

"It's pretty cool," said Sora.

As they entered the large doors, a miniature person with horns, a satyr rather, had their back to them. He seemed to be examining a large sign in front of him.

"Um," Sora started, raising his hand.

" Good timing. Gimme a hand will ya?" It interrupted. "Move that pedestal over there for me, I've gotta spruce this place up for the games,"

They looked at the large pedestal, and Sora walked over to it. Shiloh opened her mouth to speak, but then decided he would probably find out on his own that the pedestal was too heavy for him. He made an attempt to move the massive block of concrete, but failed.

"It's way too heavy!" complained Sora.

It jumped in surprise, still not turning around. "What?, too heavy! Since when have you been such a little-," he turned around to see Sora, and company staring at them.

"Oh, wrong guy," he said, referring to Sora. "What are you doing here?, this here's the world famous coliseum, heroes only,"

"What about heroines?" asked Shiloh. "Women should qualify as well,"

"Heroes," repeated the satyr, receiving a hard glare from Shiloh.

"And I got my hands full preparing for the games," he continued, while walking boldly up to Donald, forcing him to back up. "So run along pip-squeaks,"

Sora glared at him as well, angry at his words.

"It's like this, heroes are coming from all over, to fight ferocious monsters right here in the coliseum.,"

"You've got heroes standing right in front of you," said Donald, crossing his arms

"Yup, Sora'a a real hero, chosen by the keyblade. And Shiloh's was chosen by the heartscepter," said Goofy, putting his hand on both of their shoulders.

"And we're heroes too!," exclaimed Donald, referring to Goofy and himself.

"Heroes? You runts?," it questioned, breaking into laughter.

"What's so funny? We fought a bunch of monsters," said Sora.

The satyr continued laughing for a while, then said "If you can't even move this stone block,"

It started to push on the block, trying to move it. "Then you can't call yourself-," it continued, not pushing it an inch.

Sora crossed his arms, in satisfaction; he too couldn't move the block.

"A hero!" it continued, followed by several grunts. It tried pushing it for a few more minutes, until it fell on the ground, panting.

"Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, lets see what you can do," it said, getting up.

He walked over to the blocked entrance to the coliseum, and removed the chain sign in the doorway. Motioning for them to follow him, they followed him through the door. On the other side, were many barrels, stacked on top of one another.

"See those barrels? Break all of them, and be fast, I'm timing you,"

Sora nodded, and looked at his friends. They nodded as well, and watched Sora take his position in the center of the large coliseum. Once the satyr yelled to proceed, Sora rushed into several groups of barrels, jabbing the keyblade into each one.

Shiloh counted the seconds, alongside the satyr, and watching her best friend make astounding progress. After bashing the last barrel out of the arena, Sora triumphantly tossed his Keyblade in the air, and asked "How'd I do?,"

"Pretty good, 20 barrels in 25 seconds," said the satyr. "How about you try the advanced trial next?"

"You're on!" replied Sora.

In less than 10 minutes, the barrels were set up again, as Sora took his position in the arena once more. The satyr started the time once more, and Sora was running around the area, bashing at the barrels. This time, the barrels were a bit more spread out, making Sora run farther to destroy them.

After the practice, Sora had successfully completed this course as well, gaining the thunder spell ability.

"Nice job Sora!" congratulated Shiloh, happy for him.

"Thanks," he replied, humbled.

The satyr looked quite satisfied, as he headed back to the lobby with the group in tow. Maybe he was finally accepting that Sora could perhaps be hero.

"Hmm, you're not bad kid," said the satyr, nodding. Sora chuckled in response, and answered "Looks like I'm headed for the games,"

"Afraid not,"

"Why not?" asked Sora and Shiloh at once.

"Two words, you guys ain't heroes!," it replied, holding up a finger.

"C'mon!" demanded Sora, but the satyr turned it's back to them, ignoring them. Shiloh sighed; he obviously wasn't going to let them in.

"C'mon guys, who needs him anyway," said Shiloh, reassuringly.

They took one look at the stubborn satyr, then turned around, and walked towards the courtyard. Descending the steps, Sora sighed in disappointment as well. Shiloh noticed him sighing, and felt quite bad for him. "It's okay Sora, you'll always be my hero," she said, before thinking. Sora blushed once more, and replied "Thanks, Shiloh,"

Donald and Goofy giggled at the two teens' emotional drabble, and continued to walk with them.

"Hmm, rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?," said a voice behind them. They turned to see a man, his skin a deep blue, and crackling blue fire where his hair was supposed to be, standing behind them.

"Who are you?" asked Donald, suspicious of him.

"Hold on there fuzz-boy, Oh wait, lemme guess, you want to enter the games right?" he said, beginning to walk towards them.

"Well then, get a load of this," he said, putting his hand on Sora's shoulder. He held his other hand in front of Sora's face, and it immediately began to illuminate a bright blue color. The bright blue subsided, to reveal a tan strip of paper.

"A pass?" asked Sora, looking up at the shady character.

"It's all yours," he said, beginning to walk away, but then his eyes fell on Shiloh.

"But, with a small price," he said, pointing at her. A large, blue light shot out of his index finger, and towards Shiloh. She gasped and covered her eyes, as the light surrounded her, and formed a confining cage.

"What the hell…" she whispered, looking around herself at the confining barrier.

"Hey! What's going on?" yelled Sora, running up to the cage.

"You see, by you accepting the pass, I have the right to take your little girlfriend." He snapped his fingers, and the light began to glow brighter. "But don't worry, I'll keep her safe,"

"No, let me out of here!" protested Shiloh, summoning her Heartscepter. Sora furiously started striking the prison with the Keyblade, to try to free her, but the light was growing so bright…

He'd struck a small opening in the cage already, and stuckhis hand through it, and she grabbed it, showing no signs of wanting to go with this mysterious blue-haired man.

"No…I promised…" said Sora, his hands slipping from hers.

"I know Sora, I-I'm sorry," said Shiloh, looking away as their hands broke apart. Shiloh flew back, and hit the floor hard. Or at least it felt like the floor. She sat up to see she was surrounded by darkness, swirling with purple and black.

No Sora, no Donald, no Goofy, just darkness. For just a few minutes, she just sat, defeated, in silence, until fierce hands jerked her up by her shoulders. She looked up to see the same blue-fire haired person she'd seen before, the one who'd taken her away from Sora.

"Let go of me," she instructed, through clenched teeth.

"Sorry hun, but I've got orders," he curtly replied, tugging on her shoulders, and beginning to drag the struggling teen deeper into the dark abyss.

"I said Let go!" yelled Shiloh, this time, swinging her Heartscepter at him, and releasing a slash of light.

Barely dodging the attack, he jerked her even harder towards his destination. "Trust me, I'm doing you a favor,"

Shiloh glared fiercely at him, wondering how he could possibly be doing her a favor by taking her away from Sora. Another bright blue light shone brightly in front of them, causing Shiloh to cringe at the blinding source.

She landed face first on hard concrete, and slowly lifted her head up. She saw a dark and dreary place, lined with twisted pipes, and a long hallway.

"W-where?," she started, and looked around for her kidnapper. But he was nowhere to be found.

--POL--POL--POL--

A boy of about 15 walked down a long hallway, otherwise known as the Castle Chapel. His silver hair bobbed lightly, as he walked beside an ugly witch. She held her dark staff high, as her black cape draped down to the ground, and moved with her as she walked.

" Remember when I told you I could get just about anything for you?" she asked the boy.

His aquamarine eyes darted in her direction, as he answered "Yeah,"

"Well, I was telling the truth, you will get anything you want, as long as you remember the deal,"

His head lowered, and then he raised it, his suspicions arising.

"Well what is it? This thing that you can get for me?" he asked, boldly.

She gave a small chuckle, and curled her fingers around her staff a bit more tightly, as she walked up to the door that stood in front of them.

"Not really a _thing_, more of, a _person_," she replied, opening the door.

He stood his ground for but a second, then walked straight into the Grand Hall. He continued walking, not making one falter in his stride, then he stopped, and laid eyes one someone in the distance…

She was a girl, with dark magenta colored hair, hazel colored eyes, and shiny blue locket rested near the base of her neck. She looked towards him, and her eyes seemed to grow brighter, as she recognized the person approaching her.

"Riku!" she yelled, and began to run towards him with a surprised expression on her face. In response, he rushed forward as well, embracing her.

"Shiloh…" he whispered softly, wrapping his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, realizing how much she had missed him.

"I'm so sorry…so sorry, I didn't-," he started.

"I don't care!" she yelled, tightening her hands around his shoulders. Riku lifted his head for a second, to fully see her. She lifted up her head as well and smiled-- glad to see those beautiful aquamarine eyes once more. He returned the kind gesture, and pulled her closer to him, not wanting to ever let go again.

The witch, standing a respectable distance away from them, chuckled lowly, at the sight of the two teenager's reunion. Her plan was working.

--

_**T**__o __**b**__e __**c**__o__**n**__t__**i**__n__**u**__e__**d**__…_

_-- _

Chibi: This chapter was majorly fun to write! That's why it's my fav! I bet everyone's wondering what promise Sora, Riku, and Shiloh made, but that will be revealed in a mini fic, very soon. Hey, I just realized that this was partly the Olympus Coliseum world, and usually Deep Jungle comes first, but the guidebook says to go here first. Silly me!

Shiloh: (_in a bad mood_)…Foolish little authoress…

Chibi: WHAT!? How dare you talk to me that way.

Hades: Hi! I'm conceded for no apparent reason! And my hair's on fire!

Riku: Ooooh! Let's roast marshmallows!

Sora: Let's sing, the CAMPFIRE SONG! XD

(_everyone randomly starts to sing the Campfire song from Spongebob_)

Jeff: -throws a marshmallow in Hades' hair-

marshmallow: -disintegrates-(ow!)

Sora: NOOOO! HE KILLED THE MARSHMALLOW!

Riku: GET HIM! –attacks Hades-

chibihachi: ……..I'd only be mauling him if it was a chocolate covered marshmallow

Fried marshmallow: Well excuse me for not being chocolate covered!

chibihachi: O.0…..Did that marshmallow just…Never mind, next chapter coming soon!


	9. Moving On

Chibii: Eureka

Chibii: Eureka! I found the KH COM remake vids! (_does the happy dance_)

Shiloh: Uuhh…great, so do other people, who actually have the game, now back to the authoress note…

Sora: (_throws his Keyblade at Chibi_)

Chibi: YOU KNOW, THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GET SOMEONE'S ATTENTION!

Sora: Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to know…WHY YOU SEPERATED SHILOH AND I!

Riku: NOOO! I finished my lollipop!

(**Dun Dun Duuuun!**)

Shiloh: …what?

Chibi: It's part of the twisted plot! DEAL WITH IT!

Fans: STOP THE YELLING!

Sora: (_ignoring Chibi_) Wait a minute…OH NO! I HAVE TERRIBLE NEWS!

Owen: KH COM remake is not coming to North America? (_Chibi faints_)

Sora: No…Somebody…STOLE THE KH GAME! (_shifty eyes_)

(**Dun Dun Duuuuun!**)

_**Disclaime**__r_: I don't own KH or Square-Enix, or KH COM, which I wish would come out! But I do own Shiloh, the Heartscpter, my KH game, and my twisted plot of DOOM!

--POL--POL--POL--

**Ch**apter 9- **Mo**ving **On**

Shiloh and Riku held the embrace for a good five minutes. They hadn't seen each other, or anyone else really, in quite a while. It was good to finally be reunited.

This scene didn't particularly move the witch standing nearby though. She was tempted to break the two apart once more, just for her satisfaction, but she needed them…for something.

"Riku," the witch instructed flatly, forcing both of them to stare at her. Shiloh was especially startled at the appearance of the hideous person. How long had she been there?

"Please, take Shiloh to the extra room I showed you when we toured the castle,"

Riku nodded, and turned to Shiloh.

"Wait a minute," said Shiloh, staring causiously at the witch. "How do you know my name?"

She seemed slightly amused at this question, and replied with an eerie voice, "Riku has told me all about you, and the others. I'm helping him find all of you,"

Shiloh did a double take. This dark character? She took a look at Riku, who was quietly looking around the room.

"Then why did you bring me here, and not Sora?" she questioned, staring hard at her.

"Why don't you take her to her room Riku? Besides, you two have a lot of catching up to do, correct?" she answered rather hastily, and turned swiftly on her heel to walk away.

_She can't know too much…,_ thought the witch. Shiloh was left a bit confused, but she supposed that talking to Riku would probably clear things up.

As soon as she left the room, Shiloh turned to Riku.

"Riku, what's going on? I'm glad to be here, but-" she turned to look around at the immense insides of the castle. "Well, where exactly is here?"

Taking her hand, he instructed, "C'mon, I'll explain on the way,"

--

Sora collapsed on the ground, in defeat. Donald and Goofy rushed over to the Keyblade master's side, but he continued to stare at the sandy coliseum ground.

One of his best friends had just been taken away from him so quickly.

"S-Sora?" asked Goofy, worried that he had gotten hurt in the previous squabble with the mysterious character. He swallowed hard, and resumed his position.

"I lost her," he said. Donald slightly gasped-- he knew Sora was intent on keeping her safe, only to have her abducted by some random guy… Goofy gave Donald a look that 'we've gotta cheer Sora up' look, and he nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry Sora, we'll find Shiloh, I'm sure of it,"

"But what if...what if she gets hurt? And now, I've lost all of them Kairi, Riku, and Shiloh!" he exclaimed, pounding a fist on the sandy ground.

Donald and Goofy couldn't really find anything to say at this time, and remained silent, staring at Sora to see his next reaction. He sighed, and looked at the Keyblade clasped in his other hand, and stood up. The pass to the coliseum games lay stuffed in his pocket, as he stared a bit longingly at the Keyblade. He changed his expression, from a look of despair, to one of bravery, and pulled the small slip of paper from its place.

"I'm still keeping my promise," he said, loud enough for Donald and Goofy to hear, and began to walk toward the coliseum gates. They followed Sora, wondering what the teenage boy could've been feeling now, but they were left with no choice but to follow him once more.

Sora marched into the coliseum once more, preparing to flash the ticket into the stubborn satyr's face. Upon seeing them once more, it opened it's mouth to speak, but Sora proudly held up the ticket he'd received. The satyr seemed widen its eyes a bit, and asked "A pass! How'd you get that?"

"I'll never tell," replied Sora, trying to sound somewhat clever.

"Umm, all right…hey, where'd your other little friend go?" the satyr suddenly asked, looking around the room for the pink-haired teen. "You know, the one who's a girl,"

Sora looked down at his feet; he didn't want to reveal that he'd lost her already, just upon arriving in the coliseum…

"She went somewhere…I'm not sure where…" he answered, not sure what else to say.

The satyr seemed to stare at him for a split second, wondering what exactly had happened. Then he realized that he had other competitors waiting, and he'd have to find out later.

"Well, all right, follow me," he instructed a bit hesitantly, and proceeded towards the back, where Sora had previously taken the barrel test. He continued to walk across the edges of the spacious coliseum, and stopped before a large green chalkboard.

Following the satyr, Sora noticed someone else coming towards them. A boy, of about 21, swiftly walked past Sora. His blonde hair, spikey like Sora's, moving with him, he cast a blue-eyed glare directly at Sora.

Sora stopped walking, to meet eyes as well, with the new mysterious character. When the boy continued walking, Sora continued to stare after him, thinking, _Maybe I'll get a chance to fight him in the games._

--POL--POL--POL--

"So, you came here by yourself?" asked Shiloh, followed by a nod from Riku.

The two had been walking towards the upper floors of the voluminous castle.

"Yes, and I was looking for you guys," replied Riku.

He had informed Shiloh that he had indeed arrived at the castle alone, and he hoped to find Sora, Kairi, and she there.

"But then, that witch that you saw, her name is Malificent, she came to me, and insisted upon my help of her plan," he continued.

"What plan is that?"

"I don't even know that yet, in fact, she was going to fully tell me everything tomorrow. But she said if I helped her, she would help me find whatever I had lost. And that was-"

"Us?" asked Shiloh, referring to Sora, Kairi, and herself.

"Yep," he answered.

"And, supposedly, there's a master of this castle, and he's been on some kind of pilgrimage, but he'll be back tomorrow," added Riku.

"And this world is called?"

"Hollow Bastion, It's kind of strange,"

"Yeah," she agreed, looking around at the elegantly decorated hallway.

They began to walk in silence for a minute, leaving Shiloh to think why this Malificent person would want Riku. It all sounded a bit suspicious to her, and she was tempted to suggest to Riku that they leave. She had to find out something more though…

"Riku… Is Sora ever going to come here with us?" she asked.

Riku stopped walking, and looked at Shiloh.

"I don't think so," he answered a bit solemly.

Shiloh blinked, surprised at his sudden boldness. Why wasn't Sora coming? She sighed, that would be enough questions for the day.

"Your room, It's right near this hallway," said Riku, beginning to walk again.

Shiloh simply nodded, and followed. They came to a door, strangely placed on this floor with no others, and Riku opened it. Shiloh covered her mouth to keep her from gasping too loudly, as she gazed at the sight in front of her.

In the middle of the room sat a spacious bed, enclosed in the capacious lodging. About three dressers lined the sides, and a little ways from the bed, the incoming breeze from the open doors of a balcony made the curtains move quite gracefully.

"Wow…I-It's like a suite!" she exclaimed.

"I know…I think it's because long ago, the master of the castle had guests here. So, as a result, he had a bunch of rooms built..," said Riku, equally amazed.

He walked over to one of the drawers, while Shiloh took the liberty of closing the balcony doors, and opened it.

"Oh, but It looks like there aren't any clothes in here…"

"What?!" yelled Shiloh. She didn't mean to be spoiled, but really, how could a girl go on without any new clothes? Oh well, she guessed she could cope.

"Well, I'm sure Maleficent has something…"started Riku.

Shiloh let out a startled gargle. "I think I'm going to be sick,"

Riku laughed at her. " Relax Shiloh, I'm just kidding, tell you what, you can borrow one my pairs of pajamas that Maleficent bought me. And I'm sure she'll get you some new clothes tomorrow," he proposed.

"Well, It's okay, I guess. I mean, If you don't want to," she stammered.

"No, It's okay, wait here, I'll go get something," said Riku, running out of the room.

Shiloh was left standing in the large room, and sighed as she plopped down on the bed. She sighed worriedly, and unhooked the charm Sora gave her from her bikini, and twirled the small trinket in-between her fingers. His words on that very night rang endlessly through her ears.

--"_This is my promise-no, our promise, Shiloh_"--

She smiled to herself-- his voice was so tiny back then. Nevertheless, that was back then, and now was now. _Soras' always kept his promises…but… Now that I'm away from him…will he forget it?_ ,thought Shiloh. She continued to blankly stare at the precious embellishment, until Riku walked in holding a bulky pile of clothes.

"Um, okay, I brought 6 different kinds, so you can pick which one you-," he stopped to see Shiloh staring dreamily at the charm in her hand. He chuckled a bit-- she looked so far away…

"Um, Shiloh?, he started, moving towards her. Startled once more, by Riku's sudden appearance, she immediately sat up on the bed, and shoved the item she held in her pocket.

"Huh? … Oh, sorry Riku, I umm…" she said, trying to think of some kind of explanation.

He flashed her a half smile, and sat down on the bed.

"You miss Sora don't you?" he asked.

"Well, I guess I do…but I missed you too, when I was with him," she replied. "I just wish all of us could be together again, like before…"

Riku's eyes widened a bit, unbeknownst to Shiloh. Was she saying that she wished they never left the island? He placed the clothes on the bed, and put a reassuring arm around her.

"Don't worry, Maleficent said she'd help us be together again," he said.

Shiloh nodded, trying to convince herself that he was right, and blushed a little at the fact that Riku was so close to her again. Staying in silence for a few minutes, Riku looked toward the blinking clock on one of the dressers, and looked at Shiloh.

"It's getting late, you should get some sleep," he suggested.

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed, turning around to the pile of clothes. She rummaged through the assortment of pajamas, noticing that half the pile consisted of black outfits, and managed to grab a T-shirt, and long pants.

"These are good," she said, setting them aside from the pile.

"Okay, If there's anything you need, just ask okay?" he asked.

"Thanks Riku," she answered.

He nodded, taking his clothes, and beginning to walk out of the room. He stopped at the door, and smiled to himself.

"And Shiloh, don't worry, it'll be okay,"

As soon as he was halfway down the hall, Shiloh stared at the incoming moonlight coming through the balcony's glass doors.

"I sure hope your right about that," she whispered, holding the trinket close to her tightly.

--POL--POL--POL--

Sora, after rebounding from a powerful darkness slash, readied his keyblade for the oncoming attack. He fought his way past the preliminaries, in the games, and was now fighting the mysterious character he'd locked eyes with earlier. He'd found his name to be Cloud, and he was quite stronger than the weak heartless he'd fought previously in the prelims.

Crying out, Cloud lunged forward, swinging his destructive sword toward Sora. The sword, pulsating with dark energy, met with Sora's keyblade, with overpowering effect. Sora flew back, casting a fire spell at the warrior to knock him off balance. Cloud stumbled back, at the direct hit, and Sora took the opportunity to dodge roll behind him, and inflict damage.

Continuing this method, Sora had gotten Cloud quite agitated, with his strong resistance. He jumped high into the air, and poised his sword in front of him. It began to emit another form of dark energy, as Cloud gained velocity from the height of his jump. Sora ran the other way; he decided it was best not to be near him when he landed. When he did, Sora dodge rolled in once more, slashing him one more time in the back. Cloud dropped to his knees in defeat; the battle was over.

He used his sword to hoist himself up from the ground, and stopped to stare at his opponent for a split second. Sora stared at him as well; he'd won all the rounds so far. Cloud continued to lock eyes with Sora, until he heard a noise behind him.

He looked up, and a giant black furred paw slammed itself upon him. The paw belonged to a large, three-headed beast before Sora. It let out a ferocious roar, as Sora let out a gasp.

Nearby, the mysterious character that had given Sora the pass, otherwise known as Hades, said to himself "Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot. Accidents happen,", then walked off into the shadows.

The beast prepared to take a step toward Sora, but was stopped by a muscular figure in front of him. Dressed in Roman attire, he amazingly held the beast back.

The satyr, watching from the sidelines, yelled "Herc!"

"Phil, get them out of here!" he instructed.

Phil turned around, and headed to the coliseum lobby, followed by Donald and Goofy. Sora stood his ground for but a second, then turned around, and headed toward the lobby as well.

When the group was safe, standing in the lobby, Phil paced nervously.

"I wonder if Herc can handle Cerberus by himself…" he said.

"We'll finish em'!" yelled Sora. Phil picked his head up, as Donald and Goofy nodded in confirmation.

"You sure you can do it kid?" he asked.

Without a doubt, Sora nodded.

"Okay, I'll lead ya out there," he said, and they all rushed into through the door to the coliseum.

_I've got to get stronger, so I can find Shiloh, wherever she was taken…_ thought Sora, as he ran with his comrades.

--POL--POL--POL--

Chibi: Um, yeah, so here's the chappy. A little bit shorter then the other ones, eh? And the mini fic I mentioned in the last chappy ish currently being typed! Please review!

Riku: Okay, now we've got to find out where that PS2 game is…

Chibii: YOU'D BETTER! BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO-

Shiloh: I hate when she gets like this… So where should we start looking?

Chibi: I'M STILL TALKIN' HERE!

Riku: How about we look in Sora's shoes…He hides everything in there…

Sora: I do not! (_pulls his keyblade out of his shoes_)

(**Dun Dun Duuuun**!)

Chibii: Grrr… (_kills the dun dun duuuun_)

Owen: But why would Sora steal his own game?

Shiloh: Shh! You'll ruin the moment!

Owen: Anything for you…

Sora: AHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME! (_is running away from Riku_)

Riku: O.o …But I didn't even move…

Sora: YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME! NEVE- (_bumps into a random tree and falls down the random little hill_)

Chibi: Can you people accomplish nothing without me? (_sighs_) Next chappy coming soon…and…yeah… (_dances randomly_)


	10. A Touch of Regret

Chibi: Well, hello there people

Chibi: Well, hello there people!! ( _nervous chuckle_) I know I haven't updated in an eternity, but now I'm back on track!! So then, for this chapter I'll provide a short summary, in case you forgot what the story was about during my hiatus (_sweats_) Hehehe…and I also changed my username to Chibi-Requiem, but I'm still Chibihachi inside, so nothing's really changed at all. Now then, here we are. There won't be much randomness in this chappy because…hmm…I really don't know…

Shiloh: Well it's your story…

Chibi: … Hush up… Smart aleck (_presses button on remote and large screen comes down with summary_)

Shiloh: (_snickers_)

**Story So far:** The three friends have finally fulfilled their dreams of leaving destiny Islands, but only to have their world swallowed in darkness, and the four friends separated. Sora and Shiloh reunited in Traverse town, made two newfound friends, and found out that Sora was the wielder of the mystical Keyblade, and Shiloh the wielder of the Heartscepter.

Among corrupted worlds, and heartless, they started to search for their friends, Kairi and Riku. Although, when searching in the world called, the Olympus Coliseum, Shiloh was taken by a strange character named Hades, and unbeknownst to Sora, she met up with Riku. So, now as Sora continues his duty as Keyblade master, and Shiloh tries to cope with the ongoing events, what will become of our heroine and hero?

Chibi: AAd there it is, I'm terribly sorry if It sounded cheesy. (_giggles_) Oh one announcement, I am changing Shiloh's hair color to green. (_shifts eyes toward Shiloh_) A lime green to be exact.

Shiloh: W-WHAT?! (_backs away slowly_) You can't do that-- I don't really look that way in the fic so…

Chibi: But It'll make you look vibrant! Riku'll like it…(_raises eyebrows_)

Shiloh: O.o…You do know that still didn't change my mind, right?

--POL--POL--POL--

_**Disclaimer**_**: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Squaresoft, or…sigh just Shiloh and the Heartscepter…I wish I was famous…Ah well, enjoy the chappy. (_reads Kingdom Hearts manga_)

Cha**p**ter 10- **A** **T**ouch **o**f **R**egre**t**

_The hallway, lined with marble floors, seemed to stretch endlessly on, as the young girl walked through it. She looked quite intimidated, in comparison to the numerous people walking up and down the hallway. They paid no heed to the small girl, and kept their eyes fixated on the many papers they carried, and their destinations toward the door behind her. Her hands folded in front of her as she walked, she took small, timid steps toward the door, and avoided __eye contact__ with most of the men. Navigating through the crowded hallway proved to be a bit difficult for her short, trivial being, but nevertheless she continued to inch slowly, but swiftly towards the door.._

_When she finally was just a couple of steps from the two brass handles of the door, she stretched out her small hand, and grasped the handle firmly. Her knuckles seemed to turn white, as she gripped the handles with such force. She sucked in a deep breath, and opened the door._

_He__ sat on a chair across the room, lifting his head up slowly upon the girl's arrival in the room. His lips pursed, and hands folded, he didn't bat an eye when she stood motionlessly at the other end of the room._

_Intimidated once more by the space of the room, she stared at the figure that sat in the chair at the other end of the room._

_"Sit down, Shiloh," he instructed, his words bouncing off the silent walls._

_All the noise beyond the door that the girl had previously heard seemed to be ceased into an eerie silence._

_She slowly made her way over to the chair, and sat down on it, cautiously. The man stood up abruptly, causing the young girl to flinch, and clasp her hands together tighter. _

_Once more, he showed no emotion, as he began to walk across the room, towards her. The quietness of the room was briefly halted, as the click of his boots filled the room._

_He walked at an even pace, neither slowing down, nor rushing. _

_When he finally reached her, he knelt down, to her short level, meeting his eyes with hers. She cringed slightly, as he held out his hand to her. His emotion less face suddenly curved upward in a menacing smile._

_"Tell me Shiloh, would you like to know the truth?" he asked._

_Shiloh looked down at his outstretched hand and her eyes flickered with uneasiness._

_"About who you really are?"_

"No! I don't want to know!" yelled a now awake Shiloh.

She sat up in her bed, the white sheets tossed over messily on top of it, showing signs of restlessness. She started to pant heavily, then quickly covered her mouth, remembering that Riku was still asleep. She hoped he hadn't heard her scream just now. She waited a few moments, expecting Riku to come in on an account of her waking him up, but there was nothing, just silence.

She slowly released her hand from her mouth, letting out the short, quivering gasps of breath flow freely. She touched her forehead, which was drenched in a cold sweat, and she expected that her hair was probably a mess. She continued to gasp endlessly, wrapping the comforter over herself.

"Not another one…" she whispered, burying her head in her pillow.

She'd already been plagued with these troublesome dreams on the islands, but now, they were about her. How could the dreams be of her when she didn't remember anything about her past? She wanted answers, right now.

But where to look if one knew nothing?

She clutched the pillow to her face more tightly, as she began to relax physically, but mentally, her head began spinning with questions.

"W-Who was that man?" she asked aloud once more.

Suddenly, she clenched her fists in anger. "Oh brother. Now I'm talking to myself," she added.

Frustrated, she grabbed the remaining part of the comforter; that wasn't on the floor, and threw it over her head. She lay there, taking in the warmth of the sheets against her body, and not letting any light fall through an opening, basically cocooning herself in a bundle of covers, and then slowly sat up.

She sighed- it seemed a bit early to get up, plus she did have the habit of just lazily laying in bed all day, when she wasn't dreaming farfetched dreams. _I wonder if Riku's up…maybe, later I should talk to him about it…_ she thought, hopefully.

She sunk back under the covers, preparing to lay there for a good hour.

_Hmm…I wonder how Soras' doing…I really want to go see him, and I want to bring Riku with me_ she thought.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to go explore the castle. She was lazy at times, but her adventurous side got the better of her lazy side. Besides, it was better than just lying around doing nothing.

Tossing the sheets to the side, she sighed, and sat up in bed. She scanned the amazingly quiet room, only to hear the wind howling outside the glass balcony door, and to see numerous white piles of clothes on her dresser.

_Wait, white clothes? _She asked herself, turning her attention back to the dresser. Indeed, the clothes where all white; complete with sets of shoes on the floor, but how did clothes get in her room if she was asleep and didn't hear anything? Shiloh grew quite alarmed at this finding, and for some strange reason, let out a shrill scream.

At this, the door burst open, revealing a quite shocked Riku standing in the doorway.

"What? What is it?" yelled a startled Riku.

At Riku's sudden appearance, Shiloh screamed again, and flew back into her cocoon of covers on her bed. Seeing nothing was really wrong, Riku sighed, then looked down at himself.

He hadn't bothered to change into something exquisite the night before, not that he had much of a selection in his all black clothing. The long t-shirt seemed to trail down to the base of his waist, and his long black pants seemed to drag onto the floor.

As Shiloh revealed herself from beneath the covers, she smiled a bit sheepishly at Riku.

" Um, hi Riku! Sorry to wake you," she said. She really had no idea why she was acting so jumpy today.

"No that's all right, I was pretty much awake," he answered plaintively.

Shiloh adjusted her position on the bed, so that her legs remained under the covers, and sighed.

The two teens sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to think of what to say, to relieve the awkward situation. Riku stared at the base of his pants, just as unsure of what to say as Shiloh.

Suddenly, Riku lifted his head, a question coming to mind.

"Hey, Shiloh, you sleep all right?"

--POL--POL--POL--

The group returned to see the heroic Hercules being cornered by Cerberus. The large beast growled a low, fierce growl at him, as it prepared to finish him. Suddenly, hearing the patter of feet behind it, it turned around to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy making their appearance. As they took their battle stances, Phil yelled out, in a shrill voice "Kid, I got two words of advice for you, ATTACK!"

Cerberus roared, and its heads began to nip at the air in front of them, in hopes of biting one of the three heroes. Sora and the group rushed forward, jumping up to hit it on one of its large heads.

Narrowly escaping an ebony paw slamming him to the ground, Sora dodge rolled once again. He was getting a bit tired of himself having to jump up every time Cerberus slammed its enormous paw with such power that he was forced to jump into the air, and counter the impending strike.

Donald and Goofy were doing their best to keep the entourage on their toes, but the huge beast was definitely not an easy match. Whirling around, Sora hurled his Keyblade at one of the dog's heads, in hopes of stunning it, and unleashing a flurry of attacks upon it. The head, whipping around to see the item flying towards it, was unprepared for the attack, and was struck in the snout by the magical key.

The head, whipping its neck around in pain, bumped into the other head beside it, causing that head to bump into the third and final head. This collision of heads caused the three-headed beast to lose its balance. Its heads swaying dizzily, it toppled over on its side with a loud _thud, _along with Sora's Keyblade, which clanged to the floor next to it.

Sora blinked, caught in a bit of an awed state. _Wow, I can't believe that worked…_ he thought, looking from the Keyblade to the unconscious Cerberus several times.

"Sora!" Donald's voice yelled, breaking him from his bewildered state. "It's not over yet! We've got to finish him!"

Sora, contemplating what Donald just said, nodded rapidly, and bolted over to his Keyblade to retrieve it. He gripped it firmly in his palms, and began to strike the middle head rapidly, still triumphant over his success in knocking them over in the first place. Donald and Goofy added their additional attacks as well for support as usual, hoping to completely finish Cerberus at his point of weakness.

They had actually got a good number of hits on it, but suddenly, one black paw began to twitch. Realizing the sign, Donald and Goofy backed up a bit, to avoid extra damage when it got up. Unfortunately, Sora was too caught up in his winning streak to halt and notice the sign, and was still bashing wildly at the paw with his Keyblade.

The paw twitched again, and swiftly inched towards Sora.

"SORA! LOOK BEHIND YOU!" screeched Donald, making Goofy plug his ears briefly.

Sora, finally realizing the impending danger, stopped striking the paw, and cautiously looked over his shoulder.

--POL--POL--POL--

Shiloh, slipping on her short, black miniskirt, kept her eyes fixated on the pile of white clothes on the dresser. _Whoever brought me them was very kind….but I don't want them anymore…_she thought. Even after she made such a fuss about it; but she decided she just wouldn't accept the offer.

Her mind darted back to the previous conversation with Riku, and she ran a hand through the top of her hair in a frustrated motion. After Riku had asked her his question, she had replied completely without thought. "How about I tell you while we walk downstairs or something"—were her words.

Riku gave a sharp nod, and turned around to leave. He said nothing after that. _I'm so bad at expressing my feelings…so how am I supposed to…_She sighed, and stared determinedly at the wall. Parting her hair in the middle with her mere fingers, so her pink bangs hung in her face, she pumped a triumphant fist in the air. _OKAY! I'm gonna find a way to reunite my friends today!! I'm sure of it!_, She thought, marching toward the door.

She stepped out into the hallway, her steps ringing through the walls, and then dieing out slowly. It was so silent in this place…so quaint. She took a couple more steps toward the staircase, which seemed to wind endlessly down the inside of the castle.

She looked to the far side of the staircase to see numerous doors plastered to the wall on that side._ As if this place wasn't big enough already_ she thought, her curiosity arousing. She turned to face that way, and prepared to perform a mischievous "door opening" spree, but something suddenly appeared in front of her.

It seemed to be a dark vortex of some sort, spewing small bits of dark energy. Alarmed, Shiloh's eyes widened, and she held out her hand, summoning her Heartscepter. It immediately appeared in her hand in a sudden flash of light, and she gripped it firmly, staring at the dark ball. It started to spew dark bolts of energy, while growing larger, almost to the size of herself, but a little taller. Just as she took a step back, the figure fully appeared, and it wasn't a heartless, as she had expected, it was a person.

--POL--POL--POL--

Sora, digging his knuckles deep into the sandy ground, tried to ignore the pain that now lingered at his side. He had taken an immense gash out of Cerberus' energy span, but he had indeed gotten injured in the process.

He wasn't paying attention, and he scolded himself for a mere second for it. Indeed, if it wasn't for Donald and Goofy, he would've had even more injuries, but for now he had to cope with what he'd partially caused. _No use dwelling on the past…_ Sora thought, using his Keyblade to try and stand himself up with the other hand.

He could hear Donald cast a powerful sounding Thunder spell behind him, and slowly tried to fully stand without initiating any more pain in his side. Donald, thinking Sora was taking his sweet time, screamed at him angrily "Hey Sora! We could use some help here!"

Sora sighed and pouted, lifting his Keyblade. "WORKING ON IT!"

He rushed at the creature once more, preparing to finish off this massive dog for good this time. It's now coordinated heads snapped and writhed with energy, and anger as it tried to sidestep Donald's spells, and Goofy's shield attacks. Sora began to strike in the heads a few more times, still maneuvering as best as he could.

The group jumped back, as Sora received a generous Cure spell from Donald, to his delight. Cerberus looked as if It were about to collapse, but they could tell it had one last attack to perform. It stood as straight-legged as it could, and held its heads high. One by one, the three heads opened their mouths to release pulsating, crackling, crimson, orbs of energy directly at them.

"Run!" instructed Sora, as he dodge rolled away from a nearby orb.

Donald and Goofy ran under the large beast, as the orbs could not reach them there. That gave Sora yet another bright idea. He quickly ran under the middle head of the large black dog. It frantically scanned the area, moving around a lot and searching for his troublesome enemies. Scrambling like ants, Donald and Goofy attempted to stay out of the beast's sight so

Sora could administer his plan, without being trampled. Sora stood under its head, and stared up at its wide jaw. He pointed his Keyblade upward, and jumped up as high as he could, using his legs to propel himself athletically. The Keyblade bashed the beast in the jaw, and it s head immediately jolted upward. Stunned, it was caught off balance once more, and its heads flew backwards, along with its body.

It landed with an even louder _thud_ than before, and briefly shook the coliseum. Donald and Goofy had luckily moved out of the way just in time, as not to be squelched by the beast. Sora first stared at the beast, awestruck, then grinned triumphantly.

"HAHA!! Did It again!" he exclaimed, happy about his third victory.

"Nice job Sora," complemented Goofy.

However, Donald merely growled under his breath, he walked over to Sora, and knocked him upside the head with his staff. "YOU'RE SO RECKLESS!"

--POL--POL--POL--

Shiloh stared at the figure in front of her. He was a man, who had just randomly appeared out of nowhere. He just seemed to stare at her, with striking, strange, golden eyes. As she stared closer into them, she could've sworn she saw swirling bits of black within them. He looked just a couple years older than her, and probably older than Riku too.

His black bangs fell just above his cheek, and dipped low over his eyes. Of course, his attire was black; seemingly that was everyone's favorite color here. For several minutes they both just stood there, staring at each other, awkwardly, which didn't help the situation at all.

She saw his eyes suddenly dart to her Heartscepter in her hand, and examine it deeply. She tightened her grip on it, and suspiciously stared at him, in case he would decide to try anything. Suddenly, he spoke, as if he planned this or something. "So, you're her…the girl…"

His voice was flat, but thin sounding, like cold ice. She swallowed a little, and was about to ask what he exactly meant by that, but they both heard a door open a little ways from where they were standing. Out stepped a curious looking Riku, walking slowly out the door and admiring his new black t-shirt he had on, then when his eyes fell on the new being in front of Shiloh, his eyes narrowed. He started to slowly trot over next to her, and he stared the boy directly in the eye.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The boy's eyes darted swiftly to meet Riku's suspicious gaze, and he plaintively answered. "My name should not concern you at the moment. I've come to announce that Lord Ansem requires both of your presences downstairs,"

Shiloh blinked, and looked at the ground in thought. _So, the master is here…_

Riku opened his mouth to reply, but the boy simply took one step back, making Riku close his mouth immediately. He took one last long gaze at Shiloh, before Riku stepped in his path with an unsatisfied look planted in his features. He finally held out his palm, and let the darkness slowly encircle him, like a magic trick; in seconds he was gone.

Riku whipped around so fast, Shiloh was actually startled and stared at him like he was crazy.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"Um…no," she replied, standing tall and straight. "Please Riku; I can take care of myself,"

He smiled, and gave Shiloh a little push. "Sure you can,"

She sighed, and leaned on the rail to the stairs, pressing her back against it.

"So, your dream?" he asked.

Shiloh felt herself freeze inside, just a little. She inhaled a bit, and looked at him

" I dreamt of me, when I was younger. It was like a flashback dream, almost. Like…It was so real," she started, staring up at the ceiling.

Riku, listening attentively and nodding, noticed her go into a dreamy state at the end, and poked her in her cheek. She snapped out of it, once more, and rubbed her cheek angrily. "Ow…what?"

"Another question,"

"Okay, shoot,"

"What is and where in the world did you get that?" he asked flatly, pointing to the Heartscepter, that had been clutched Shiloh's hand the whole time. She blinked again, and looked at it.

"Oooh! This! It's called the Heartscepter. I aid the Keyblade master in restoring peace to the worlds, and um…" she started, but couldn't quite remember what else she could really do.

"So…you…" he started.

Shiloh decided quickly that it would be best to tell Riku about these things later on, and quickly grabbed his arm, interrupting him.

"Well then! That's enough of the interrogating inspector Riku! How about we pick up your investigation after we meet the master of this place, okay?" she exclaimed, literally dragging him down the stairs. Riku, baffled, simply followed her, and let himself be dragged down the stairs.

--POL--POL--POL--

Chibi: Well then!! There we go!! I shall try to update waaay sooner, I promise, no more hiatus, but I'll be on vacation for a while, so I'll do my best.

Shiloh: Now, about the hair…

Chibi: And once more I'm sorry about the hiatus, and hope I didn't lose you, thank you so much for your support so far everyone.

Shiloh: Hair…

Chibi: And, new Deviantart pics of Shiloh will be up when I draw really good ones. And in general I hope you liked the chappy.

Shiloh: HAIR!!

Chibi: And, the next chapter will be named Regret part 2 because I couldn't exactly fit everything in this one.

Shiloh: GRAAAAH!!

Chibi: (_pets Shiloh's head_) okay, time for a nap.

Shiloh: (_scowls_)


End file.
